More from 2024.

Morning,

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a dirty dose of the guilts? Things that you wish you had said/didn’t say. This strange world of comics gives us so much every day. (I’d also like to say at this point in this quasi-carol concert that my wallet also ‘gives’ quite a lot!). So here are a few things that I feel are worthy of mentioning. We’ll start with the comics that fell just outside the Top Ten that I posted a few days ago. Then roll on to a few other things.

Or you can see this as 11-20 in my favs of the year. It’s up to you.

We Are Worthy Mentions (aka – The Next Ten).

Clear Run 2 and a little dust in my eye.

The second issue in a comic that all at once breaks your heart AND reminds you that there are still a few good humans out there. Helena Edwardson is a buddy, life coach and collaborator of mine but this series stuns me with joy on each and every reading.

Mugshots.

This crime series from Jordan Thomas and Chris Matthews show skill and a tightness of scripting that is missing elsewhere. A story set on the South coast of England it has the fingerprints of Get Carter and The Long Good Friday. But also manages to show us an anti-hero with a dash of Parker. Jordan is fast turning into a writer who is needed at Marvel in my opinionated opinion. This is also on Global Comix so go look it up.

Plastic Man No More!

I’m a sucker for those stories that tell of the last days of someone, hero and/or villain. Having faced some mortality issues this year I can relate I suppose. This series adds the trope of a funny guy who isn’t always so funny when on his own (hang on…). Probably the first thing I have read that has really hit me from both/either Christopher Cantwell (writer) and Alex Lins (artist). Feels like the recent issue got delayed and I’m still waiting to see how it lands. So possibly a higher re-entry in 2025’s list.

Geiger and Redcoat.

More from Ghost Machine. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank on Geiger and Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch on Redcoat. The whole team at the Machine are showing up a lot of other people in comics with craft, quality and professionalism. They also have a lot of heart! You are desperate for good comics and here they are. I also bought a T-shirt! Watch this space for more news on this company on the ACP soon.

Judas: Every Story Needs a Villain.

I’m not a follower of religion/s. I had a atheistic epiphany in my teens whilst still under the cassocks of the De La Salle Order. So it was the art that dragged me into this one. From Jeff Loveness and Jakob Rebelka it is a stunner! It asks a simple question about what happened to Judas next. I need to find a physical copy. (In all honesty this is one I’m not sure is a 2024 release – but I read it on Global Comix where it dropped this year – so I’m bending the rules).

Fables.

We just got two issues of this series. Two that ended the triumphant return. Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks) and Lee Loughridge (colours) have produced easily one of the best and most recommendable comics out there. They had some shenanigans about rights etc towards the end but that didn’t darken for me what a brilliant series this still remains. I got a chance to catch up with Mark again at a Con this year and he is a gent! (And a wizard with a pencil!). Get on the trades if you still can.

Usagi Yojimbo & Space Usagi.

Easy to recommend every year. Now at forty years this is still a joy to read every single time. The return of Space Usagi was a lovely twist with Stan Sakai flexing some Metal Hurlant muscles. There are plenty of trades and similar out there for the newbie and ongoings posing as minis for those who prefer.

Valiant Resurgence.

Valiant is back and I couldn’t be more excited. We’ve been getting some early preview copies but I have them all on my pull list nevertheless. Under the nonsense of some recently let go editors and staff I thought they had gone away. But, Alien Books from Spain appeared and they are up and running again. My favourite so far has been Valiant Resurgence: Eternal Warrior has been my favourite so far.

Marini & Eagles Return.

Dude!!!! The glow of English translations of BD material seems to have slowed down in the last twelve months but this crept through. Enrico Marini hinted at this when I met him a few years ago. Look this series up online. Another one I buy in French hardbacks.

Convention of the Year.

Which one shall I choose. Oh, funk it I’ll choose two.

A trip to this French BD Festival with my buddy Sam Arthurs is always the best of times. This time we had Niamh along with us and we laughed to and from non-stop. Not only their company but Simon, Eamonn, Falpy and Barry joined us for the annual Croafunding meal hosted by Xavier. If you haven’t done a French comics festival you need to get to this one. Massively inspiring and educational. I also managed to get back on The Mega City Book Club with Eamonn from a small cafe whilst eating croissants! So posh!

What is becoming another regular favourite. Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina is an event that puts the actual comics and their creators in the middle of the assembly. I hung with one of my fav people in the world Clifford Cumber. We talked, read, drank, ate, shopped and socialised in this super-friendly event. I met at least ten comics heroes of mine. More of that in a second. I also bought a page by Alex Toth. It sits behind me on Teams calls – take that stuffy academia!

Comics Dude of the Year.

This was super difficult. I’ve met so many people in the last twelve months who were on my golden bucket list. But, on the Sunday afternoon of Heroes I was flagging a little. Cliff had headed home on his cross-country drive and I was thinking of doing one last loop.

Then I saw that Al Milgrom as at his table alone. So I grasped the raccoon and approached him for a chat. He was genuinely very generous and funny. We talked about comics, travel and he took the piss hilariously out of my accent. He was there, involved and often at the bridge of the Bronze. A period I return to daily. What a dude. I bought a print.

So…

Thanks again for reading! I’ve got one more of these to write. See you soon.

‘Truth needs no colour, beauty, no pencil.’

Out.