Great New Books You Picked Up in 2012

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:50 pm

What have you picked up this year that was new to you and you've found to be really quite enjoyable?
Don't feel limited to books that were new in 2012. new to you is what I want to know.

Image's Skull Kickers
It's wonderful, fantasy, mindless action and violence. It follows a couple of monster hunters. A human with a gun and a dwarf armed with a couple of axes. I've read the first trade and neither of the lead characters have been given a name. The names are beside the point. This is a book about fantasy action. It's described by the writer as a kind of role playing game like D&D, but with non of the other elements to the game like solving puzzles. No, this is pure action, combat and violence. The main duo cause as much trouble as they solve.

IDW's Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye
This book is very amusing!
I've picked up all three of the on-going IDW Transformers series and this is the best.
While the sister title 'Robots In Disguise' focuses on what happens on Cybertron after the Autobots have finally won, Robots In Disguise follows a group of Transformers who have left Cybertron in search of adventure, trying to find the Lost Knights of Cybertron.
The crew is an eclectic bunch. Rodimus is a narcisist, Ultra Magnus is anal, Drift is a new age idiot, Brainstorm's an evil genius, who is obviously jealous of Perceptors fame as the brainy one, Whirl is a sociopath and every other character brings something unique to the crew.
You really get a sense of transformer life in this series and after every issue you feel you've learnt a little bit more about the life on a planet like Cybertron and you laugh a little at how they've done it. The way how every transformers' alternative mode affects their standing in life and what they do for work is covered, religion gets covered, medical procedures and robot 'biology' is covered as is the idea of plastic surgery in robot terms and all of these ideas all come together to enrich the story with a fantastic robot world that will make you smile.

Cinebook's Thorgal
Cinebook is the English translation publisher. I don't know who the original publisher is. This is an old Belgium comic from the writer who also did XIII, which has also been published in English and some of you may be familiar with.
Thorgal, is set in what I guess must be the Viking Age. It follows the tale of Thorgal child of the stars, who a group of Vikings found in a spacecraft's emergency raft as a baby and adopted. There's a fantastic mixture of Nordic mythology, fantasy adventure, horror and science fiction.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:55 pm

I'm very bad at telling you why I enjoy a book but still, the new books I picked up in 2012 and were good (in no particular order):

-The Massive, Dark Horse, Briand Wood, Kristian Donaldson and Garry Brown.

-Fatale, Image, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

-The Manhattan Projects, Image, Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra

-Punk Rock Jesus, DC Vertigo, Sean Gordon Murphy

-Hawkeye, Marvel, Matt Fraction, David Aja, Javier Pulido

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 5:41 pm

Have you read Thorgal?
It was originally published in French and was the fifth highest selling comic in France, so if you haven't read it, why not?

I'm reading The Massive, Fatale and Hawkeye. I've picked up the first issue or two of Punk Rock Jesus, but haven't read it yet.

Tragic Angelus · Post by **Tragic Angelus** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:43 pm

Saga- Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples

Massive- Brian Wood & Kristian Donaldson and Garry Brown.

Richard Stark's Parker Series- Darwyn Cooke - This falls under the "Not new in 2012 but new to me" category. I just read Hunter and already ordered The Outfit & The Score from my shop.

Avengers- Jonathan Hickman & Jerome Opena- Though it's only 2 issues in, it really wowed me and got me to subscribe on the title after one issue. I wasn't expecting to like the book and yet I feel as though I enjoy it more than Uncanny Avengers. Really looking forward to how it plays out, though wary that Hickman may disappoint me as he did on FF and Manhattan Projects

Planetary- Warren Ellis & John Cassaday. Again, while not new, I read the entire series for the first time this year and I loved it. Great look into the history and overall world of Science Fiction and Comic books. Really enjoyable.

jedispyder · Post by **jedispyder** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:56 am

Saga - 'Nuff said

Journey Into Mystery - Kieron Gillen's masterpiece is what some call the Sandman of the Marvel Universe and I agree, it's an intricate woven tale that was amazingly well done

Deathmatch - Only the first issue is out but I love how it's a fight to the death of characters yet they go and focus more on the relationship between the characters instead of the battles

wolf_2099 · Post by **wolf_2099** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:34 am

To go with ones not mentioned...

Think Tank!

Conan - Brian Wood
The Activity - Image
Fury: My War Gone BY
Peter Panzerfaust
Stumptown Vol 2
Strange Talenet/Legend of Luthor Strode

Manhattens Project & Secrets are boh good read.

Tragic Angelus · Post by **Tragic Angelus** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:18 pm

I almost listed Think Tank but hadn't finished issues 3 & 4 yet. Just did late last night though and I enjoyed it. I'll continue reading but wonder if it'll hold up in another arc since it was only planned as a mini.

Both Manhattan Projects and Secret let me down this year. MP got far too incomprehensible and Secret just never came out. It's what makes me apprehensive about Hickman doing creator owned books. They sound great but don't pay off to me.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:20 pm

I was rather disappointed by The Activity. The first 2 issues were rather boring then my retailer didn't get issue 3 so I just told me to put the book off my list.

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:58 pm

Did Hickman do the book Nightly News, or something like that? I never got into it and haven't been interested in picking something of his up.

The new Fury book by Ennis is classic Ennis doing a war book. It's nothing new, but it is guaranteed good storytelling. I like it, but it's in my 'secondary reading list', so I'm a bit behind on it.

Arn, I've spoken to your secretary and she'd like to inform you that you have a Thorgal question awaiting a response.

Saga is indeed excellent. It's a great to get another good BKV book after all this time.

Mr Wallstreet · Post by **Mr Wallstreet** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:42 pm

Saga, as others have mentioned is a great read
Fury: My War Gone By
Spaceman: By Azzerallo & Risso - This one took some getting used to. Azzerallo invented a brand new method of slang/speech for his dystopian story. After getting the hang of how characters spoke, I was able to appreciate all the nuances and "big picture" story that Azzerallo is used to telling

Incorruptible & Irredeemable by Mark Waid - I know this came out a good long while ago but I'm just getting around to reading this now. I've got the first storyline of each title and they're amazing. Waid is one of the few guys in the comics scene that can just tell fantastic character stories. The way he jumps from title to title and shows a character from a completely different angle is just genius

Conan & The Massive by Brian Wood. The Massive is just getting itself off the ground and so far it's been good. I'd need another few issues to see if its great.

Conan is the one book on my list that has been a consistently enjoyable read since it first came out back in 2006 and that's a difficult feat to manage, especially since the creative line-up changes. Again, if you haven't been reading Conan since it was re-launched by Darkhorse when it first came out, you're missing out on a real gem of a title.

I can't think of any others

wolf_2099 · Post by **wolf_2099** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:24 am

The Pacific is also looking pretty good after two issues.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:56 am

Stocky, I remember reading a couple of Thorgal books in my early teens. I enjoyed them but never felt the urge the collect the whole series.

Also, a great book I discoverd in 2012 (though it is a bit older) is the Sixth Gun from Oni Press by Colen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. I'm usually not into "horror" but this one is quite good.

My biggest breaktrough this year has been using Comixology. I started buying comics when they are on sale at 0.99 an issue which helped discover some good books and some terrible ones.
It's making me consider buying a tablet.