Marvel ended up being top publisher in 2021, as usual. 54 comics, which is pretty well in-line with 2018 and 2019 (55 and 52, respectively). However, it's the first year since 2017 Marvel topped 50%, and that just barely (50.47%). Really owed more to all those issues with Vault and Grrl Scouts I talked about yesterday driving down the overall total than anything else. If things had come out how I thought they would in October, the results would have been almost identical to 2018.
The other 53 comics are divvied up between 11 publishers. Scout Comics came in second with 13 (12.15%). The other 10 publisher were between 1 comic (Image) and 6 (Behemoth). So it's a bunch of people getting very tiny slices of pie.
Lunar Room #1: So far, it looks like a half-assed mage wants to steal a magic sword from his twin brother, and he's going to use a lycan who can't turn into a wolf at the moment at his bodyguard, with the promise of helping her with that problem. We'll see how it goes.
The Marvels #1, 2: Kurt Busiek and Yildray Cinar seem to be taking advantage of Marvel's long history to tell a sweeping story with a lot of different characters, while also introducing several new characters to the toy box. It feels like something that will read better in collected format, though, so I figured I'd wait.
High Point: Let's see, I like Ortensia's design. The bowler hat, the vest, even the striped pants. Oh, and the skeleton horse, very cool. I like the different threats they encounter, and how the story switches between past and future to fill in backstory while still moving things forward. I like that they left things open for more stories in the future, either Ortensia's training, or what happens after she and Alexander go to the property she owns in Oregon. My favorite issue would probably be #4, because it's the one where the fact they're friends is most obvious.
Low Point: I guess the fact I don't know if we will get any more of it in the future. That possibility is a real bummer.
High Point: The scenes inside Marc's head, like in issue 1, when the guy tries to take him over with his mind-controlling sweat (a clever idea, but still gross) are lovely, and kind of creepy. That janitor's mind being bound up and stuffed in a sarcophagus somewhere in the back of Marc's head was disturbing. And I'm never going to complain about a respectful Tigra appearance, even if I don't understand why Reese didn't go to her for help in issue 6 instead of Dr. Badr, who wanted to kill her for being a vampire. And MacKay pulling Zodiac out of mothballs could be interesting, depending on what he does.
Low Point: Cappuccio's city scenes are always eerily empty. There's never anybody on the streets, never any cars driving around. If Moon Knight is protecting these people who travel at night, shouldn't we see more people, you know, traveling at night?
One-Star Squadron #1: Between this and Deadbox, it's probably best for me to conclude I'm not on the same wavelength as Mark Russell's writing. This just felt ugly, and from what I saw the second issue didn't get any better. Like it's making fun of the people trying to get by in the "gig" economy, rather than jabbing at the people running it.
Power Pack #3-5: I don't think Ryan North had much interest in Marvel's pandemic-aborted "Outlawed" event, except as an excuse to do a Power Pack mini-series. Which is fine, because he and Nico Leon made this extremely enjoyable book as a result and that's all I need. The Wizard got treated like the putz he is, which is always good.
High Point: Taskmaster showed up and lost because he can't help showing off, which is accurate. I already mentioned the Wizard getting humiliated. The panel Leon drew where we see the Wizard coming up with plans to use the Pack's powers to defeat other villains. Like his plan in case of "disagreement with Juggernaut". The best part, though, was Wolverine helping the Powers out by staging a fight with him in a purple outfit calling himself "Wolvermean", Wolverine's evil twin. That might actually be the high point of all my comics this year.
Low Point: I didn't like the notion that when the kids are angry right after they've lost their powers, that the anger is because some of the Wizard leeched into them while he was stealing their abilities. Why can't Katie just be angry on her own that a stupid law lead them into the hands of a super-villain who stole their powers and tried to kill them? She's like, 8, can't she just be angry about that without it having to be the villain? Because it certainly didn't seem like any of their better natures soaked into the Wizard.
High Point: We didn't get a lot of it, but Gib's continuing integration into the group, and high school life was entertaining. Molly hitting a growth spurt and being taller than Nico was a nice touch, as was her immediate "who do I punch?" reaction to seeing two Gerts. Genolet continued the trend of having giving each character a distinct fashion sense and style. Which is not normally something I worry about, but it's a tradition on Runaways titles, so it's probably important. The star of the book is Doombot, of course. As is only fitting, because DOOM! is always the star of any book in which he deigns to appear, so how could one of his creations fail to do as much?
Low Point: Issue 36 being only 18 pages wasn't great, since there certainly wasn't any reduction in the price. I don't know if Rowell knew the book was being canceled or not, but if so, a little more urgency to the pacing wouldn't have hurt. Leaving the book on a bunch of cliffhangers like Karolina's return to her homeworld (and taking Nico's staff with her), and Chase going to the future, leaves the group in a weird spot. Especially with not knowing when or if they'll get another book.
The Rush #1, 2: Si Spurrier and Nathan Gooden bring us a story of weird things going on around a Yukon gold rush town. And one woman will have to do her best to navigate those dangers if she wants to live long enough to figure out what happened to her son. It's the sort of Western-setting I enjoy, with the hint of weird shit that I also enjoy, so I'm actually pretty hopeful for this one.
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