Welcome back to the first episode of 5 and 3 for 2014! I hope you all got a good look at some of our bots favorite comics from last year. In case you missed them, Jerkbot’s best of list is here and Dagobot’s list is here. Those lists were great. I agree with most of those picks, but it’s the little moments that mean the most to me. So let’s stop looking back and instead focus on my favorite things in comics from this week.
This week we start of The New Year with a bit of a festive nod courtesy of Todd The Ugliest Kid on Earth issue 8. I love the Christmas holiday and the way this cover captures all kinds of Christmas memes but makes it a uniquely Todd The Ugliest Kid on Earth cover is terrific.
DC comics have finally replaced the writers on Aquaman and I’ve got to say, I haven’t the heart to let Geoff Johns go just yet. The good news for everyone though, is that we replaced Geoff with Jeff. Jeff Parker is totally capable of keeping the good times rolling on what has been one of the brighter notes in the New 52. I didn’t know I loved Arthur but Geoff Johns knew I did. Jeff Parker clearly knows that too, and with a bit of cheek, launches his work on Aquaman by launching Arthur into the stratosphere. Who says Aquaman can’t fly?
The mosaic cover for the six issue mini-series Revelations 1 is a cover you’ll be staring into for a while. Humberto Ramos is one of my favorites. I love his work on the Spock character with Dan Slott on Superior Spiderman but this cover is on an entirely different level.
Pitarra makes another appearance in 5 and 3 with another The Manhattan Projects cover. The designs for the covers of this series have been so understated but so spot on. If they release a covers issue when all is said and done, I’ll probably put a few of these on my wall.
I’ll always walk through The Scary Door for a Francisco Francavilla cover. His cover work is my favorite since Paulo Rivera. I haven’t read the Twilight Zone issue yet, but the internet buzz on this one has been very high. With a cover by Francavilla, I’ll be pulling one off of the shelf of my local comic shop this weekend,
To kick off the new year of panels I decided to pick another DC Comic. I know I don’t always give DC Comics enough love but they haven’t blown me away like Image and Marvel have recently. This week they certainly did though, and it’s probably because I’ve always wanted to shrug off the bounds of gravity and soar through the air. I want to give a big thanks to Christos N. Gage and Neil Googe for helping support my years long argument that The Flash can fly.
Over in The Manhattan Projects Hickman and Pitarra continue to make subtle social commentary on America’s relationship with Science. In This panel of issue 17 the commentary isn’t subtle at all.
The first 5 and 3 of 2014 ends with a question for all of the readers. Feel free to reply in the comments or send me a tweet @MarkAvo. What I want to know, is would you be happy with Superman Unchained if Jim Lee left the book but Dustin Nguyen took over?
Writing 5 and 3 for you all in 2013 was a blast! With the amazing tide of Geek culture continuing its rise I just know 2014 will be great too. This week has come to an end though, so if you want more great comic book art be sure to check out 5 and 3 from last year. See you again next week, same bot time, same Big Shiny Robot website.