March Report

DC: 62 Comics

Vertigo: 10 Titles

Marvel: 10 Comics

Other Publishers: 3 Comics

Total: 85 Comics

Top Vertigo: American Vampire #25

Don’t take the consistency of this title as an indication of the value of other books within the Vertigo branch, but rather of the awesome staying power of this arc featuring young rebel heartthrob Travis Kidd. There were many solid books this month, but the showdown battle followed by Kidd’s hyper-badass final confrontation really set the bar at a new level.

Honorable Mentions: Fables #115, Izombie #23, Sweet Tooth #31, The Unwritten #35, Fairest #1, Saucer County #1

Top Marvel: Wolverine & The X-Men #7

While this book takes my top spot, it also ends up earning my highest frustration level this month, with the turn that Broo’s character has taken. A lot of the value of this title is held in the writing, the piece that has elevated it to consistent top spot status has been the artistic style and quality. Next month returns to a form less appealing to me, as well as the conflict of a crossover. Next month’s top marvel spot may be an interesting battle.

Honorable Mentions: X-Factor #233, Avengers Academy #27

Top Other Publisher: Saga #1

As nearly every critic alive has already noted, the return of Brian K. Vaughn to comics itself is a near epic event, and fortunately Saga managed to meet all of the hype and expectation. It really, truly, was a lot of fun, with an interesting layered play on the genres of fantasy and science fiction, all the while grounded in the believability of his characters. I had planned on trade waiting most issues of this book, but actively find myself needing to keep the story rolling next month.

Honorable Mentions: Morning Glories #17, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #6

Top DC: Batman #7

If you had told me in the first week of the month that there would be a book that could contend with Swamp Thing for the top spot of the month, I’d have told you that you were crazy. And then a couple of weeks passed… and there were three very serious contenders, one which managed to knock the spot out from Swamp Thing’s feet, retaining the throne once more… in 2011, Swamp Thing was my undefeated top pick of each month… 2012, it seems, has become the territory of the Batman.

My DC Top 10 For March

1) Batman #7- A thrilling tale that exposed the secret mythos we never knew existed.

2) Swamp Thing- A book of transformation, heralding the beginning of war.

3) Batman and Robin- A shock we always knew was coming, but didn’t think would ever truly come.

4) Nightwing- A title that retroactively upgraded the quality of each previous issue by two ratings levels.

5) Aquaman- A chilling start to the expansion of the Aquaverse and a sharp new storyline.

6) Wonder Woman- A somewhat controversial, but nevertheless awesome development in the history of the Amazonian culture.

7) I, Vampire- A consistently vibrant horror story that managed to up the apocalyptic ante without losing the strong focus on character.

8) Justice League Dark- A true representation of the value of a crossover well done.

9) Justice League- A nice done in one follow-up to the lengthier precedent, with a touch of tease towards the future.

10) Green Lantern Corps- A somewhat predictable but nevertheless effective tear jerker, that some might find cheesy, while I found it heart wrenching.

Overall Pick of the Month: Batman #7 (DC Comics)

Next Month’s Anticipations: The Night of the Owls begins! What changes await the Justice League roster? The Justice League Dark joins with Andrew Bennett to defeat the Rise of the Vampires! How will Bruce deal with Damian? The Other League debut continues! Will Wolverine join the Avengers or the X-Men? The Runaways and the Avengers Academy and dinosaurs!

And My Questions for You!

Now that the day has arrived: AVX, are you in and for how much of it?

Was the Vertigo mini-launch effective?

As the first group of cancelled New 52 books conclude, which has been your favorite?

Which upcoming crossover are you most or least anticipating and why?