Okay, I did my favorite movies of 2018 list. Time for my favorite books/comics of 2018 list.
I’m still keeping my reading log on Google Spreadsheets, however, I sort of re-upped my investment in Good Reads and updated my last two years of reading logs there. I want to test out that site’s functionality a bit more, possibly looking to keep my logs there permanently. You can check out my Good Reads shelves here.
According to Good Reads’ reading stats, I read 85 books/comics last year. And here are the breakdowns of my starred reviews.
The stats also say I read 18,158 pages last year. kind of strange to see that giant number written down as the number of pages I’ve read. Yikes.
So, the same rules apply here as on my movie list. Only new reads in 2018 count. No re-reads, which I did a few last year. It’s been hit or miss the last few years on getting 5 of both comics and books. However, I was able to get 5 books and 5 comics for this list. Let’s see what they are.
Books
The Making of Star Wars – JW Rinzler – I didn’t read this one straight through. If you look at my read dates for this they go from Jun-Dec. It took me several months because, first, the book is f’n HUGE. And second, because I would read it in between other books a section at a time. It’s a big, weighty tome but there’s a metric ton of information, charts, pictures, scripts, artwork. You name it, it’s in there. Rinzler combs through the Lucasfilm archives and gives us a micro drilldown on the making of the first movie in the trilogy. So much information and so much to process that I personally couldn’t have read it straight through. But I’m glad I finished it. I’m looking forward to Rinzler’s other two books in this series (Empire and Jedi).
Dark Matter – Blake Crouch – I got this on a lark during a Kindle sale. The premise was intriguing. Jason Desson is mugged one night and knocked unconscious. He wakes up in a place he’s never seen before in a life he never lived. His wife is not his wife, his son was never born, and he’s not a college professor but a celebrated genius scientist who has achieved something impossible. Is it this new world or the old one that is the dream? See? Great premise. And the book delivers. I really enjoyed where this book went. It’s dark, but a fun read. It gets pretty bonkers at the end, too. Very much enjoyed this book, so much so I bought a few more of Crouch’s novels after I read it.
Vicious (Villains Book 1) – VE Schwab – I’d had my eye on this book for a while. The sequel, Vengeful, just came out the end of last year. During their senior year, two brilliant college students form a theory that under the right conditions, humans could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their research goes from theoretical to experimental, things go horribly wrong. I really liked this book. It’s a much darker take on super heroes and sets up a really cool world. Several twists happen that I somewhat saw coming, but it didn’t bother me because I was enjoying the ride. Yes, I *will* read the sequel.
The Rap Year Book – Shea Serrano – Again, sort of bought on impulse at an end of the year Kindle sale. Features the most important song from every year in hip-hop from like 1979 to 2014. It’s the author that’s making the determination of “most important”. I’m glad I got it, because rather than just be a giant list of facts, it’s actually a covert telling of the history of rap through the veneer of the most important singles of each year. Lots of dropped information and the author is very entertaining in his writing. And as I suspected, once the book got to about 2003, I hadn’t heard of any of the songs. I was literally scratching my head the rest of the book.
Billy the Kid: An Autobiography – Daniel Edwards – I thought long and hard about putting this book in. But the more I thought, the more I realized it needs to go here. If you’re at all interested in Billy the Kid or even the Wild West like I am, then this is a *very* intriguing read. I talked about it on episode 49 of Hellbent for Letterbox. This book does two things, first, it gives you a thorough account of the whole Brushy Bill Roberts saga through the original interviews with him in the late 40s. Second, it supplements and comments on Brushy Bill’s story with research, facts, photo comparisons and conjecture from a third party, the author, in modern day. You could almost call it the Brushy Bill Roberts Interviews: The Annotated Edition. Daniel Edwards really digs in and tries to get to the bottom of the whole Brushy Bill saga. I’d never really delved into that story, I just assumed it was all a bunch of bull, but there is so much to Brushy Bill’s story that I didn’t know! Really opened my eyes to a few things.
Time to move on to…
Comics
Jeff Lemire books (Old Man Logan, Hawkeye, Thanos, Green Arrow) – I sort of went through a tear of Jeff Lemire comics last year. And I can’t pick one so I’m just going to group them together like I’ve done for the Jason Aaron Thor comics. I started with Lemire/Sorrentino’s Old Man Logan series which pulls Mark Millar’s creation into the Marvel Universe proper. Loved it. Still reading through the series. Then I tackled the Thanos comic which is an excellent series devoted to the mad Titan. It’s huge, it’s cosmic, it’s epic. I was already a fan of the Matt Fraction Hawkeye solo comics, so I was intrigued to see how Lemire would continue that series in All-New Hawkeye. And it’s pretty awesome. I love the developing relationship between Clint and Kate Bishop. Finally, I found out late last year that Lemire took over the New 52 Green Arrow comic. So I read it and it was a lot of fun as well! Check out all of these, and while I’ve been a Lemire fan for a while, this latest run of comics has made him a must read for me.
The Mighty Thor: The Death of Thor – Jason Aaron – And speaking of Jason Aaron’s Thor comics, he makes it on the list *again* this year with the finale to his previous Thor run. I’ve spoken at length on these year end blogs and a few times on several podcasts about my love of Jason Aaron’s Thor. It’s great, I love it, and this finale to the Jane Foster Thor saga is epic and heartbreaking and great.
Jughead’s Time Police – So, yes, I bought all six issues of this comic off the rack back in 1990. And yes, I do, in fact, still have every one of those issues. That did not stop me from buying the full collection in digital format last year and reading the entire series. I’m surprised how much I still really like it. I almost didn’t add it to this list because I was labeling it a re-read, but honestly, I don’t think I’d ever actually finished the whole series. I think I’d only read that first issue. So the *whole* series was new to me. It’s hokey, and cheesy, but in a very sweet way and the entire premise is wacky and fun. Elements of this comic’s characters and story line even get a few call outs in the new Jughead reboot by Chip Zdarsky. And this comic was ground zero for the creation of my 50cent Bin Teen Titans on Nerd Lunch last year.
Weapon X – Greg Pak – I’m a huge fan of Greg Pak. His Planet Hulk is phenomenal and I love Totally Awesome Hulk. So I was intrigued by this team book featuring Domino, Lady Deathstrike, Warpath, Sabretooth and Old Man Logan being hunted by deadly, shape shifting assassin robots sent by the reformed Weapon X program which is now looking to eradicate all former members of the program. Lots of fun with this eclectic and volatile team.
That Archie comics reboot by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples – I was curious about this because I love Mark Waid, and I’m a mild fan of *some* things Archie (see two entries up). So I was morbidly curious how this “reboot” was going to be handled. And it’s pretty great. It’s much in the same vein as the CW Riverdale series, but this comic reboot came first in 2015, so I guess the 2017 Riverdale took it’s cues from the comic. I really like how it sort of reinvents Riverdale. All the characters are great, Betty is adorable, and Veronica is actually not that bad. In volume 3, we meet Cheryl Blossom and, YIKES, she’s a force to be reckoned with. Give it a shot, I think you’re gonna like it, unless, of course, you’re horrified they even tried to reboot Archie in any way.
So, those are my favorite books/comics I read in 2018. There were a lot more I could’ve put on, and normally, right here, I’d put in some honorable mentions. But I may actually split out the honorable mentions into their own article. So look for that soon. And you can see all my ratings/mini reviews for the last two years on my Good Reads account. Check it out. Friend me. I need friends.
Hope you enjoyed this 2018 round up. Can’t wait to see what this year brings.
Cavalcade of Awesome 