Reviews

Matt Reviews: Will Eisner's The Spirit

2011-01-28T02:51:39Z

Hello dorks. It's been a while since I last posted a review. Sorry about that. You all know how time simply flies. Plus I have somewhat of an excuse; I've been very busy with school. Why didn't I write any reviews over the winter break, you ask? Well you'll have to figure that out for yourself.

I have one book I want to review tonight. I'm going to review a book that actually came out last week. It was so good that it needed two weeks for me to fully appreciate it. Will Eisner's The Spirit #10, written by David Hine. This month's issue features a very cool cover pose of The Spirit dodging some bullets. The title of the story, Crime and Punishment actually pays homage to the famous Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The two plots are very similar. Many of you literary types out there will be familiar with the basic plot structure of Crime and Punishment(1866). The ex-student, Raskolnikov, plans the murder of a corrupt pawn-broker. In this comic rendition, the criminal Roscoe Kalashnikov(great name) takes center stage instead of the title's namesake. This one-issue story leaves the typical genre of hardboiled fiction and the whodunit to focus on the psychological aspect of the criminal's mind. Within the book, we follow Kalashnikov as he comes to terms over his guilt of the pawnbroker's murder. Along the way we get a fascinating glimpse into his inner fears, including the typical Freudian issues of parental abuse mixed with an intense fear of bugs. Really, just like the novel it was based off of, the plot of this story isn't so much the murder and the investigation by the detective, but the plot of Kalashnikov's mind as he journeys through its dark interiors. The ending leaves the reader satisfied if not a little creeped out by the sense of folly fate leads us into.

I really dig what is going on with this new volume of The Spirit. The artwork by John Kantz and Gabriel Bautista really emphasizes the grittiness of the city along with its superb use of dull colors. Also, the writing by David Hine is just excellent. I also like the ambiguity of what era these stories are exactly set in. True to its origins, the book features many aspects of a pulp-era 1930s and 40s gangster-ridden American city. But along with that we get traces of the modern and contemporary, specifically in some of the younger characters who act as The Spirit's sidekicks and close friends.

This book really isn't getting the attention I feel it deserves. To me it has become one of those top deckers, the books I immediately place at the top of my stack of comics to read. The First Wave line of books published by DC Comics have really drawn me into the pulp era of literature. Another series I like includes Doc Savage, though I feel it has a lot of catching up to do to match The Spirit for my affection. The revival of the pulps is a great thing, and like film noir, which has had its revival, I believe that this is a time for the neo-pulp to resurrect itself.

This has been Matt Reviews. Thank you and goodnight.

Matt Reviews: Week of August 18th

2010-08-19T04:58:38Z

Good evening, dorks. After a rough night at work, I like to lie back and read the comic books I bought for that week. Lets get to it, shall we?

First up, Will Eisner's The Spirit #5, written by David Hine. This issue is part 2 of the new story arc, Frost Bite. In this story, The Spirit must battle the presence of a new drug, nicknamed frost, plaguing the streets of Central City. This story is definatly an anti-drug tale, and seems as if it were written specifically for that purpose. Drug related issues are not foreign to comic books. Back in the 1970s, both Spiderman and Green Arrow dealt with the problems of drug addiction. Specifically, Spiderman saves a doped teenager from attempting to fly from a rather high building in Amazing Spider-Man, issues #96-98, and Green Arrow discovers that his young ward, Speedy, is addicted to a certain drug (heroin, I believe), in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85-86. The teens who get hooked on this new drug, frost, are depicted as victims, which I appreciated. In this issue, Spirit must get a young girl named Ebony to a doctor before she freezes in the frigid weather. Suitable enough concerning the name of the drug, Central City is suffering the worst blizzard on record, and Spirit has miles of snow to chug through to get to the doctor. Taking advantage of the situation, a hit is put on his The Spirit, and while he is dealing with saving Ebony, he must also contend with every criminal in the metropolis. There is a nice psychedelic splash page, where a very tripped out Ebony sees The Spirit battling the criminals. Overall, I'm really enjoying where this series is going, and I think Will Eisner would be proud to see where his creation is going. A bonus for this series is the second feature. This issue's story was written by David Lapham(need I say more?) The Spirit Black and White is definatly an awesome addition to this series of books.

Now how could we possible top a book like The Spirit? I'm glad you asked, because my next review is of Star Wars Legacy #50, written by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, and the final issue in the series! Wow. I could leave it at that and feel complete in my review. But lets look closer. When I first heard that this series was going to be cancelled, I gnashed my teeth and swore to the gods. How could something so good end? I dismissed whoever said to me, "but remember, all good things must come to an end." However, letting the news sink in, I soon calmed down and realized that this series was one hell of a epic story, and I was just glad to have read such a book. Plus I had been reading this books since #1 first came out, about 4-5 years ago. I had been reading this book since I was a freshman in high school! Anyway, since the series was closing down, I settled in for a epic, be all, end all, battle for the galaxy between the Jedi and the Sith. As the issues got closer to #50, I began to think, "They better begin to resolve some of these plot lines, or they're never gonna have enough time!" Some clever store clerk, who's also a fellow Star Wars guru, pointed out, and Dan I'm looking at you, that they can't just end the story here. The story was going to continue even if the series didn't. Lo and behold, Dark Horse has announced a six-issue miniseries to proceed and possibly conclude from Legacy, entitled War, slotted to begin this December. That's awesome.

Putting aside that long rambling of mine, the issue is fantastic conclusion to the series. Though Cade Skywalker isn't the most heroic character, we still feel for him as he struggles to understand his destiny(it seems Skywalker and epic destiny go hand in hand). Scorning the label of Jedi, he is still a man who struggles to see good things happen, and sacrifices as much, and I'd say even more than any other Jedi. There are some epic moments in this issue, and all I can really say is you'd have to read them for yourself to get the full experience of the issue. Simply excellent.

Finally, I'd like to briefly mention Harlan Ellison's Phoenix Without Ashes #1. Harlan Ellison, enough said. Also Cullen Bunn's The Sixth Gun #3, from Oni Press reveals some background on the antagonists chasing the heroes of our tale. Excellent new series, dealing with western and demonic themes.

Next week, I'm looking forward to Action Comics #892, and Green Arrow #3. Farewell for now.

Lane Lectures: Another Superb Romance

2010-08-17T17:31:17Z

I don't think I'm making an outrageous statement when I say that Alan Moore is one of the premier writers of his comic generation. Of course we all know him for Watchmen, the superhero satire, published in the mid-1980s with art by Dave Gibbons. In fact that book provided the stepping stone for me to really leap into the comics medium. I had seen trailers for the upcoming movie, and during a book review project, someone in my high school English class had highly recommended it. "Just as good as any novel," he said. And, wow, was he right! I devoured Watchmen, and once I finished, I realized my hunger was not satiated. I needed more things to read by Alan Moore. "A quick wikipedia search will solve my problems," I thought. So surfing the web, I found out that Alan Moore had written V for Vendetta. "That movie was based off his work!," I thought. So, promplty, I devoured that work of genius.

From that point on it was like a potluck. However, in this potluck, all the different flavors originated from the same source. The great part about Alan Moore's writing is that it is always changing dramatically, and that it covers so many different genres and topics. Lost Girls, for example, is set in an Austrian hotel, on the eve of World War I. The graphic novel explores the sexual development of the three literary characters, Alice Fairchild from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Wendy Darling from Peter Pan, and Dorothy Gale from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. But, really, who ever thought of something like that!? Only Alan Moore, it seems.

Now before I go too far, and worship everything Alan Moore has ever written, I want to discuss his Another Suburban Romance. This is a comic, published by Avatar Press, based originally off of his poem of the same name. Published sometime earlier this decade, Avatar Press is republishing all of Alan Moore's work from that company. "Another Suburban Romance", as I like to think, is Alan Moore's version of Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan. The poem evokes the decay of an urban society, London, most likely, as Moore himself stroles through the rubble, Glycon cane and all. Even without the stunning art by Juan Jose Ryp, I can still feel the human decay and the feverish attitude of the city, devastaingly overpopulated, where the "murders don't have motives," and "passions don't have names" Also included in this book are two other short stories. The first one, "Judy Switched Off the TV," feels very similar in theme to "Another Suburban Romance." Also set in a dystopian future, probably the same as "Romance", we follow the path of a man on his walk, too apathetic at this point to even notice or be surprised by the carnage around him. The last short story is titled, "Old Gangsters Never Die" This is Alan Moore's bizarre take on 1920s crime and the Prohibition era. However, it blends ghost horror themes, as all the dead mob gangsters gather in a movie theatre to watch their old lives on the big screen.

So now that you all know how much I love Alan Moore's writing, I would like to show you some of his other works and the span of genres he writes about. "The Courtyard", a short story, was his take on Lovecraft and Cthulhu. This work has also been adapted for comics, and is also available from Avatar Press. Other Cthulhu themed works of his, include the sequel to 'The Courtyard", Neonomicon, which has just started, and Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures. Supreme is Alan Moore's Superman. With a twist, of course, and a little bit of existentialism. Not only does he pay homage to old archetypes but he also adds his own unique feel to the story. Finally, if you are a hopeful future comics writer, you should really pick up Alan Moore's Writing for Comics. He mediates through the writing process in his own way, clear on the point, though, that writing is a very individual process.

Alan Moore is my favorite comic writer. Hell, he's probably my favorite writer. It has come to the point where I look for his name, and I know I want to read it. Oh the story is about this? Well that's great and all, but it's Alan Moore. I think I'll enjoy it primarily for that reason.

Matt Reviews: Week of August 11th

2010-08-12T19:21:46Z

I don't know about you guys, but this week has been a great week for me concerning the comics I collect and read! From the pulp hero of Doc Savage to Mike Carey's The Unwritten, I couldn't be happier in the books I bought this week.

First on my list today, I will be reviewing DC's Birds of Prey #4, written by Gail Simone, with art by Ed Benes. This is the final issue of the first story arc and I was really looking forward to some closure concerning the new threat the team had to face. In the first issue they encounter the deadly White Canary, hell bent on bringing pain and suffering to the Birds of Prey and those that are close to them. I really like how Gail Simone brings us Black Canary, aka Dinah Lance's thoughts as she grapples with this mysterious threat. Though this is part 4 of the 4, we do get a nice cliffhanger into where the series will be going from here. I've never read the first Birds of Prey series, but what really intrigued me into picking up the new series was the idea of an all-female team. Not only do they look really hot, but they are very strong female characters, who have humanity, but can also kick your ass if you try to mess with them. Even though he plays a small role in the story, I'd have to say my favorite character is Hawk aka Hank Hall. Being the only male on an all-female team, he really sticks out as this macho jock jerk, which is both amusing and interesting, seeing how he interracts with the women of the group.

Next I wanna talk about Doc Savage #5. Taking over from writer Paul Malmont, B. Clay Moore takes us into the next phase as Doc Savage and his crew seek refuge after the lightning attack on their home base. I gotta be honest, the first story arc wasn't my favorite but I do enjoy the pulp feel of the book, and have really been enjoying the First Wave books, also featuring The Spirit, and The Bat-Man. This issue was really fun because it's a stand alone tale where we see the normally powerful Doc Savage in a really vulnerable state. His team goes to Greece where he has to put his trust into a crime lord, who offers him a safe place to gather and recoup. I also really like Doc's team of men, who include Ham, Renny, Johnny, Tom, and Monk, each with their own unique skills and personalities. DC has done a great thing bringing back the old 1930s pulp characters to new 21 Century readers. Brian Azzerello, who is writing the main First Wave miniseries, will soon take over the Doc Savage series. What else can you expect from the writer of 100 Bullets and Johnny Double, but excellence?

Finally for this week's reviews, I wanna discuss The Unwritten #16, written by Mike Carey. This is classic Vertigo, smart and entertaining. This is a great issue because we get many answers to previous questions we all had for what was really going on with Tom Taylor and the shadowy literary organization out to get him. Tom finally meets his missing father for the first time in the series, and these two have some serious father/son issues to work out. Trying to explain to his son why he is so important and how they must defeat this evil organization who control the world through its literature, their meeting is cut drastically short by the arrival of the assasin Pullman. I don't wanna spoil too much, but death is involved. Meanwhile Lizzie has her own troubles, struggling with her identity as a literary character from Dicken's novel Our Mutual Friend, living in the real world. This series has been nothing but a joy to read, and I hope it lasts far into the years to come.

These three I wanted to highlight, but other great reads this week were Superman #702, Daytripper #9, and Zatanna #4.

For next week's books, I'm looking forward to the epic conclusion to Star Wars: Legacy, in issue #50. Also next week, Harlan Ellison will unveil his new comic miniseries, based off his tv pitch, The Starlost, titled Phoneix Without Ashes. Finally Cullen Bunn's The Sixth Gun #3, will be waiting eagerly in my pull to be read.

This has been Matt's reviews for the week and I will see you all next week.

Lane Lectures: Every Day As if it Were Your Last

2010-08-06T18:23:58Z

What would you say is the most important day in your life? Well your birth, obviously; the day you crawled into the world. A miracle of nature ready to enter into life and what we call the grant human comedy. But immediately after your date of birth, what becomes your most important day, or some might say second most important day? Death would be pretty high on the list for most people along with marriage and the birth of their own children. But that's what it's all about, isn't it? Life and death, or life and continuing life, as the whole process keeps "perpetuating itself through the sands of time," as a Mr. Sam Eliot would describe it.

And the epic Brazilian brothers team of Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon bring to us just that in their treatise about life, reflecting its ups and down, strikes and gutters. Known for their art work on Casanova and the Eisner award winning, Umbrella Academy, these two are absolutely magnificent when telling a tale. The artwork is truly unique, taking us from the bustling city Sao Paulo to the glittering beaches of Salvador.

One of the other big reasons this work stands out among the multitude of comics out there, is that I've truly never seen anything like this before in the comics medium. Sure I'm new to the format and just getting started, but Daytripper stands out. A comic dealing with a Brazilian slice of life, featuring one man without any type of super heroics going on; who ever heard of it? There are so many super heroes out there that we often forget about the literary gems that also exist in the comics world. I defiantly plan on reading their other work set in Brazil, entitled De: Tales, for another bit of "stepping outside your comfort zone" reading.

But along with the writing, the coloring on this book would have to be my favorite. Dave Stewart does a wonderful job gifting us with a splash of color from start to finish.

In the ten-issue miniseries Daytripper, we are the privileged viewers into the life of Bras de Oliva Domingos, a depressed obituary writer, who dreams of more for himself, as he struggles through life and trying to break free of his father's literary shadow in the first few issues. The audience trips through the most significant days in his life, everyone ending with his death by the end of the issue. We see what is most precious to Bras'; his lovers, his friends, his family as they also come to terms with what really matters in life.

This work deals with life at its harshest. No matter how much we plan, we can never cease to be surprised by the unexpected events that change our lives forever. Living every day as if it were your last certainly resonates with this work. But overall I think the underlying message of this work is hope. Hope for a better life for our futures, hope for much better lives for our children's futures. Because at the end of the day, though our lives are very meaningful and precious to us, we have to let them go someday and go back from whence we've come. But life always continue on, fighting for its right to exist in the vast cosmos.

If you haven't picked up Daytripper, by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon you are doing yourself a great disservice, not only for your mind, but for your heart. And though the series reaches its conclusion in a couple issues, it's never too late to go back and find the previous singles or to wait for the completed trade that I'm sure will be read for decades, and hopefully centuries to come.

X-Men Vs ... Vampires?

2010-07-07T21:24:30Z

This week's X-Men #1 is the first Adjective-less X-Men #1 in 20 years. Not since Chris Claremont & Jim Lee teamed to launch one of the highest printed #1's in the history of comics has there been an "X-Men #1" ... is that a big deal? I'm not entirely sure. This launch certainly does not carry the name recognition that the last "X-Men #1" did but that doesn't mean that it isn't good. Probably best known for his crime novels Victor Gischler turns in an interesting story about terrorist cell vampires and their desire to spread the disease of vampirism. Artist Paco Medina, perhaps most widely known for his work on the debut story arc of the current Deadpool ongoing series, churns out some really fun artwork that at times saunters up to really great but most of the time stays in the realm of solidly good. The story is the next in a long line of big X-Men status changing events/banners. The strangest part about the event though is that it doesn't seem to bear any connection to the event that just ended. I'm not bashing on the story that just finished, X-Men: Second Coming, or on this new "Curse of the Mutants" banner but it just seems like a bit of a disconnect.

The story itself drew me in and I felt like it will be the kind of story that I'd like to check in on the second issue for but at the same time there is this nagging voice in the back of my mind saying, "Wasn't the Dracula story that Paul Cornell was telling in Captain Britain & MI:13 awesome! Why did that series get cancelled?" in addition to the perhaps worrisome idea that Marvel is just trying to cash in a little bit on the recent bump in popularity that Vampires have been experiencing (there was a really interesting discussion that when Republicans are in the White House that Zombies become more popular and that when Democrats are in the White House that Vampires receive the same kind of popularity bump but that whole conversation is better saved for another time). Like I said, Gischler's tale is an interesting one and it has a different kind of take on Vampires than I've seen recently but at the same time plastering "X-Men Vs Vampires" all over everything just sort of sits funny with me.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad had I not seen the announcement on Newsarama that Marvel is going to be doing "Vampire Variant Covers" this October.

On the other front in the pages of Uncanny X-Men we've got Matt Fraction continuing on with the threads laid down by Second Coming. "Five Lights" will kick off in Uncanny #526 and will introduce new characters as well as be penciled by Whilce Portacio who was an X-Men of similar popularity to Jim Lee back when the last X-Men #1 came out.

Perhaps this isn't a coincidence.

Perhaps it's time to look back at the 90's and think more fondly about the kind of expansionist "Everyone must read comics!" kind of mentality that was ever so prevalent back then. We're trying to get comics in front of more eyes with digital comics (like them or not) and we've got a brand new X-Men #1 ... with 8 covers ...

And strange as it might sound, it might not even be a bad thing. Only time can tell.

Cthulhu Dice Fails to Drive them Mad

2010-04-12T19:50:29Z

It's been a while since I have played a game that I just plain didn't like. Unfortunately this happened last night, and perhaps even more surprising it was a game from Steve Jackson Games ... that involved Cthulhu. I'm as big a fan of Cthulhu as the next raving lunatic and I normally glom onto the goings on of the Elder One himself. But this game is just plain bad. It's far too simple and seems to rejoice in that simplicity but aside from use as a quick game that determines which player goes first in another game I can't see how the game is really even worth it's low, low $4.99 price tag.

The game plays quite quickly with each player having three sanity tokens and the final player with remaining sanity wins the game. Each round a player picks a "victim" and rolls the die against them and will affect their sanity in a few different ways and then the victim attacks the predator and the die passes to the predator's left. The game is just not in any way complex and really falls flat in both it's concept and it's presentation. The game contains one twelve-sided die, about 18 or so green glass counters so that you can play with 6 players, and a rules pamphlet; and that's all. I really have enjoyed a great deal of the games that I have played recently from Steve Jackson Games, namely among them Chez Cthulhu, but this is really just a sub par performance.

I could even be more petty and say that the name is misleading as it only contains one die, and thus should be called Cthulhu Die but I can see where that would be a bit of a strange name when it gets down to brass tacks.

Atlas Games Does it Again With Ren Faire

2010-02-15T02:19:01Z

It came time to review another game for our monthly product meetings and there just happened to be a new game on the shelves that had caught my attention from a publisher of which I have always been fond. Atlas Games has a really good track record of great games in the the Board Game [Seismic] and Role Playing Game [Feng Shui & Nyambe] varieties, but their major releases have almost always been in the card game field, games like Lunch Money, Let's Kill, Gloom, Dungeoneer, Once Upon a Time, as well as others. And their most recent release is another in a long line of really fun games that can make for a really great experience for casual gaming situations and party scenarios. The game only plays up to 4 players which I see as the only real stumbling block from it becoming the kind of game that Lunch Money has become.

Ren Faire is a game by first time designer Michelle Nephew and she approaches mechanics and fun like a seasoned pro. The game is quite simple but yet really fun as it combines the kind of silliness that one has come to expect from an Atlas Game but at the same time has a sort of system of gratification as you accumulate parts of your costume. The premise of the game is that you want to be the first to have a complete costume (though it need not look good together or even make any sense). The best way to get pieces for your costume is to earn cash and the only way to do that is to complete silly little tasks that vary from flipping cards to belly dancing to jumping up and down for a few turns or even speaking in a particular accent for a while.

The game has an instant beer and pretzel appeal, which these days means that it has a great deal of replay value (because who wants to break out a new game when you've already got one out and have already played a round of it). I think that the game is probably the most fun with 3-4 players because it makes some of the tasks more daunting in someways and more entertaining in others.

This is the perfect kind of game to get your SCA (Society of Creative Anachronisms) friends to gather round the table and in no time they'll be shouting "Long Live the Queen!"

I Wish Every Night Was The Last Night On Earth

2009-12-27T17:27:23Z

The guys and gals behind Flying Frog's Last Night on Earth have had a bonafied hit on their hands ever since the game hit the shelves. The game was one of the fastest sell-outs in recent memory and was one of the most impressive first efforts from any young gaming company in the history of the game renaissance. Many people may be wondering what the fuss is all about and maybe even some of them with good reason. The game might seem a whole lot like other Zombie Apocalypse games on the market but it is most assuredly different and in a whole lot of fun ways. The game accommodates up to 6 players and is played in a team situation. In the 6 player game 4 players play as survivors trying to accomplish a series of goals in a limited number of turns and the other 2 players play as the zombie hordes (in smaller games there is only one player representing the zombie hordes). The game is a combination of character abilities that differentiate the survivors, equipment that can be acquired from searching buildings, and action or event cards that the characters also acquire by searching the buildings. The zombie players have a never ending supply of zombies and a smaller hand of "Zombie Event" cards that are refilled every turn on their side.

The real charm of the game is the kind of open competition going on between the survivor players and the zombie player(s), the special camaraderie that develops between the survivor players, and the overall uniqueness of the scenarios that the game provides. In the basic box there are 5 different scenarios (Defend the Manor House, Die Zombies, Die, Save the Townsfolk, Burn 'Em Out, and Escape in the Truck) and each one provides a different kind of experience for both the heroes and the zombies. As well the whole board is modular creating a different feel for each game as the buildings that surround the center of town (or the manor house) change with each variation. The benefit of this game as well is the overall production quality. For your $49.95 you're getting some really incredible components, great cardstock for the cards great cardboard for the board pieces as well as really good looking miniatures round out an incredible product from a small company that has everyone noticing.

In addition to the dynamic base game there is also the Growing Hunger expansion that adds more cards to the variety as well as additional scenarios. On the horizon for Flying Frog is also the Hero Pack 1 which will add more characters into the mix for the survivor team as well as a few new cards oriented toward these characters and an additional scenario. Another expansion growing ever nearer is Survival of the Fittest expansion which will add more scenarios as well as three new decks of cards to the game: Unique Items (which will add new items for the survivors to utilize), Survival Tactics (tactical decisions that are made by the characters to better aid their survival through the night), and Grave Weapons (weapons for the zombies as they rise from the dead). Also there are additional scenarios available through the Flying Frog Games website. All in all I think this is the kind of game that can bring seasoned gamers a great deal of tactical entertainment and bring new gamers to the table with great looking pieces and really fun mechanics.

X-Factor: Best Book of the Year?

2009-12-24T18:55:47Z

A whole lot of hyperbole falls out of my mouth every single time it opens. It's not as though I don't really love the comics that I claim to or that I don't think they're every bit as awesome as I proclaim them to be ... it's just that when I think of comics I think in hyperbolic terms. I think that most of us do really. I think that when we love a character, we LOVE a character. And when we hate a series we LOATHE it. But every now and again we have the chance to think about things in a more serious mindset and we actually figure out intellectually what makes us enjoy a series aside from the gut feel of love. Over the last year X-Factor has released either 14 or 15 issues and for the first full year in a very long time it has been completely unhindered by the "Event Machine" going on at Marvel. There is something about when Peter David is allowed to tell his story unfettered that makes it a certain sort of magical and having a full year of that kind of magic that has made it more memorable and amazing than a lot of other comics on the market in recent years. This was also a year of a few big issues for X-Factor as it reached #50 of the current series and #200 of the legacy numbering for the series. But it isn't about the milestones, at least not for X-Factor. And it's most certainly not about the impact that it's having on the rest of the Marvel Universe. It's about the moments between characters throughout the last year that have been amazing, heart breaking, heart warming, terrifying, and simple. It's been about the maturation of the relationships between the characters and watching Monet and Theresa become best friends. It's been about watching the addition of Longshot and Darwin to the cast and how that has changed the dynamic. It's been about watching the two closest characters, Madrox and Guido, grow apart the way truly close friends do from time to time. It's been about the return of incredible characters and the creation of even more incredible scenes. As I look back on 2009 I begin to realize that perhaps the best book of the year wasn't any of the top sellers and wasn't even the moments from the big events ... but the quiet book that did everything that it should be impossible to do with comics. That maybe, just maybe ... X-Factor was the best comic of 2009.

Ultimately it comes down to the amazing roller coaster ride that the last year has been for the characters, from the heights of Jamie and Theresa's child being born to the depths of what happened when Jamie held his son. It's about the issues that take place in the future as Jamie tries to save Mutantkind once again from the clutches of extinction at the hands of angry men. It's about the way that Longshot has become more than a mullet-ed three fingered alien and has become part of the X-Factor Family. It's about the kiss that twisted Rob Liefeld's guts. It's about the moments. This book is full of them. They make you laugh, they make you cringe, they make you rejoice, they make you cry, they make your pulse pound and your mind race. And behind it all is a writer that I had convinced myself for years that I didn't particularly care for: Peter David.

In a year where it has been about the event and the building toward the next event and zombies and political overthrow and multi-colored corps ... Peter David did all of this by explaining the beginnings of the story. By bringing to light the things that had been in the shadows of his ensemble superheroic noir piece in the midst of the mutantverse. He did it all by bringing it back to the basics. And he also did it by introducing a doddering old Doctor Doom who has delusions of grandeur in the future that made me laugh and laugh and laugh.

Peter David, I know you probably won't ever read this and even that being the case I wish to say thank you. To you and the artists that have worked on your book over the last year and who have brought more smiles to my face, more tears to my eyes, and more laughs from my lips than any other ongoing series of the year and doing all of it under the major radar and while never breaking the Diamond Top 10. Congratulations sir, you've wrapped up a 50 issue long arc (which might have been about 6 issues shorter if it hadn't been for Secret Invasion and Messiah Complex) and managed to leave enough untied threads to go on another 50 issues if not more. So here is to X-Factor, may 2010 be even better for you.