Panel Patter: The Newsletter, Martin Luther King Day Edition
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Panel Patter: The Newsletter. We hope everyone is taking some time today to reflect on the mission and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Here is the full text of his famous speech during the March on Washington. Without getting preachy, it should be required reading for all Americans. Not only will it help you understand the broader scope of his philosophy, it will also allow you a more authentic eye roll when racist people attempt to co-opt cherry-picked portions of his message.
Recent Patterings
Talking OZ - An Interview with David Pepose
Brand new patterer, Steven, had the chance to chat with Pep about his new book that harnesses the mythology of Oz to tell a story about the effects of war on both individuals and their surroundings. Steven did a bang up job on this interview, so be sure to check it out.
The idea of Oz deteriorating into this Baghdad-esque dystopian country made a lot of sense the more I thought about it — the original Dorothy kills two Wicked Witches and convinces the Wizard of Oz to split in the span of about a week, and then leaves the country to its own devices. That justified the wartime premise for me and gave me some real dramatic potential with our lead character Dorothy, and made The O.Z. feel like something very different than I had seen elsewhere.
Rob's Favorite Comics of 2020 Part 1: The Short List of a Crappy Year
Rob debuted the first part of his year end round-up with his short list of titles. Like out other lists, our fearless leader creates a list that ranges across genres and publishers.
The TLDR version is that it' really means something if you're on the list today or tomorrow. I think a lot about this, and I take it (probably too) seriously. Any book you find below or in the Favorites list is something I'd recommend without hesitation. They're amazing books from amazing creators, and feature a very wide variety of publishers and styles, which is just how I like it.
Rob's Favorite Comics of 2020 Part 2: The Sweet Sixteen
Rob returned the following day to deliver his top 16 favorite comics of 2020. 16 is an odd number for a countdown list. Actually, 16 is an even number. And it works just fine for our EiC.
Today, it's the comics that really struck a chord with me this year. These are the 16 comics that I liked the best in 2020. It actually should be 15, if I was following my guidelines strictly. But when I looked over this list, there wasn't a single one I wanted to remove. So here we are.
Waiting for the End of the World in Daniel Warren Johnson's Wonder Woman: Dead Earth
The Panel Patter team loves all things DWJ, and Scott took the time to dive into his excellent Black Label book, one that turns the idea of the superhero, and specifically the established image of Wonder Woman, upside down.
In Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Johnson doesn’t draw this like a superhero comic. This is a story of a character barely holding onto her wits. Johnson’s Diana doesn’t have the time or the energy to pose in a heroic shot. The only time we get an idea of the person she was is when we first see her coming to the rescue of some people being hunted by monsters. In that single moment, we get to see the powerful woman that’s been in many other comics. We see Wonder Woman, regal and strong. But that is fleeting as that takes all of her energy.
Quick Hit Reviews-- Scout's Honor #1, Eternals #1. and Future State: Swamp Thing #1
Scott dropped another post the same week with a trio of quick hits of some recent debut issues.
There’s a rich artistic legacy to Swamp Thing stories that Perkins seems to be simultaneously homaging as well as adding to. His art portrays these plant characters in very human terms, giving them personalities and attributes of the species that they’re replacing. Perkins not-quite-plants/not-quite-aliens figures are modeled on humans as that’s part of the plot; it’s really the only thing that Swamp Thing knows.
Catch It at the Comic Shop January 13th, 2021
Finally, let’s close out our recap with this past week’s Catch It post, featuring selections from nine different publishers.
From the Archives
Halloween Horror: Saladin Ahmed's Abbott from Boom! Studios
True, it isn’t Halloween, but Abbott returns this week, and Rob is excited. Let’s journey back a mere two years in our time machine to see why Rob enjoyed the first part of this series so much.
One of the great strengths of horror as a genre is its ability to work side-by-side with social commentary, both for good and bad purposes. Dracula is about fear of the foreign other. Lovecraft's stories feature great conceptual ideas, but aren't exactly hiding his racism. Godzilla is the living embodiment of the horror of nuclear war. In this case, Saladin provides a cool story about light versus darkness, but it's clear there's more than that at work.
Extra-Pattering
What is your comics-themed New Year's Resolution?
James
I want to do more writing that goes beyond a discussion of a specific comic. I want to try to more broadly tackle themes and ideas. I did a little bit of this last year, and would like to do more.
Sean
Script something that I have knocking around in my head that may or may not percolate into something.
Scott
Something I started in 2020 because of... well everything... was finding ways to support more comic shops. In the Chicago area, I have a lot of shops available to me. The Graham Crackers in Naperville is my main shop. I've been hitting them almost every Wednesday for 13+ years but with all of the shutdowns, I've found that both Challengers and Quimby's in Chicago have excellent mail order, so I've been ordering stuff from both of them that. I want to continue doing that in 2021. It's great to be able to have shops that have very different focuses around and I want to see them be able to continue through all of this.
Steven
This year I want to broaden my scope in terms of genre, as well as move back further chronologically - Golden age books and non-superhero books.
Rob
As noted in my favorites list, read more comics by women.
Mike
My main resolution, and this was in part a revelation I had towards the end of the year as I put together my favorites list, is to simply read what I feel like. I often have a hard time getting out of my own head about things like that - I need to have this record, or read this book, or like this type of comic if I want to yadda yadda yadda. I feel like I’ve finally become comfortably and confident enough in my own tastes that I’m not looking to check any boxes or keep with a particular trend. I’m going to read the superhero books I want and the self-published mini-comics I want, and be perfectly happy with each. Also, I need to read more prose, as a whole.
Are there any books on the horizon in 2021 that you are eager to see arrive in stores?
James
The hardcover collection of Universe! by Albert Monteys. This was previously published digitally at PanelSyndicate and it's a collection of some hilarious, clever, and poignant stories. If you aren't familiar with him, Monteys is an extraordinary cartoonist, who most recently illustrated a graphic adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, with the adaptation writen by Ryan North. His work is hilarious and moving, and I highly recommend Universe!
Sean
Onion Skin from Top Shelf by Edgar Camacho, The Thud from Fantagraphics by Mikael Ross & Static by Matt Lesniewski.
Steven
Well, I'm excited to see the rest of Rorschach. Beyond that, I heard there's a new Damian Wayne book coming, and I'm a big fan of him. Also that new Image book, Radiant Black. Don't know much about it but I'm going to give it a shot.
Rob
Tillie Walden Alone in Space Collection (Avery Hill), Abbott 1973 by Saladin Ahmad and Sami Kivela(BOOM!), Secret Life by Theo Ellsworth and Jeff Vandermeer (D&Q)
Mike
Methods of Dyeing by B. Mure (Avery Hill), Swamp Thing by Ram V and Mike Perkins (DC), Tono Monogatari by Shigeru Mizuki (D&Q), Jimbo by Gary Panter (NYRC).
Is there a book that's been a hole in your reading that you hope to close in 2021?
James
This year I'm going to read Alan Moore's run on Supreme as I've always heard good things.
Sean
As strange as it may seem, I have several gaps in many mainstream titles. I anticipate myself trying to close a few of them here and there throughout the year. I kinda already started with digging up some early Nightwing stuff.
Scott
I just got a book that reprints Al Columbia's The Biologic Show and am looking forward to diving into that. That was something that I skipped over back in the 1990s. Another 90s hole is David Mazzucchelli's Rubber Blankets, which I really want to try to track down copies of this year. Dame Darcy's Meat Cakes is on Comixology and that's the third series I plan on reading.
In other words, I just want to relive the 90s in 2021.
Steven
Plenty. In my ComiXology wish list right now I have Batman: Knightfall, V for Vendetta, 300, Seven Soldiers of Victory and Sandman.
Mike
I’ve never read Ex-Machina, and I purchased the first volume of the compendium, so I need to get going with it.
That does it for this week’s Panel Patter: The Newsletter. By the time this is published, CJ’s debut review will already be live, and you can be sure to look for our Catch It picks arriving on Tuesday. Have a great week, Paneldom.