Top Big 2 Books That Read Like Indie Comics

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By Cory Webber — As someone who jumped into comics fairly recently—I started reading in 2014—I quickly found myself overwhelmed by decades of superhero continuity and backstories. Where should I begin? How do I keep track of things in both multiverses? What do I cut out of my life to make time for my newfound passion? The answers were start by identifying favorite characters, give up on ever entirely keeping track of both multiverses, and sacrifice sleep.

As I learned more about superhero comics, I also discovered Image, which opened a new world to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Big 2, but it was incredible to find Image and its trove of rich, self-contained stories unburdened by prior continuity or connections to other books. These creator-owned comics are stories I can open and enjoy on their own individual merits. I like and respect both types of books. I have, however, found there is a special intersection between the two, and that’s what I’d like to talk about today.

So, why not turn this into a list? Well, here you go: my Top Big Two Books That Read Like Indie Comics, in no particular order. My criteria is simple: the book either has to read as a self-contained story, or transcend superheroics to incorporate elements of other genres, or at least have hints of them (Editor’s Note: No Big 2 imprints are included..this list is strictly superheroes).

Big 2 Books That Read Like Indie Comics

Pizza Dog from Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye. 

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja

Hawkeye was the first superhero book I read that really subverted what I thought I knew about comics. Matt Fraction took the most obvious thing about Clint Barton (his lack of superpowers), and used it to not only humanize him, but to showcase what he was truly capable of (being a real pain in the butt, mostly). Also, the relationship between Barton and Kate Bishop (the better Hawkeye) developed into something special. Their back-and-forth banter, and Clint’s inability to be a decent partner, is something still being mined in comics today. Namely, Kelly Thompson’s recently concluded Hawkeye run. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and read it!

The issue that really stands out in this run is issue #11, the pizza dog issue, which won an Eisner in 2014 for Best Single Issue (or One-Shot). It’s told from the perspective of Lucky, aka the titular pizza dog. What transpires and how it is presented is utterly brilliant, and this remains the single best issue of anything I’ve ever read.

Tom King's Vision applies an overly-logical robotic lens to family life in the suburbs.

Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta

Vision was my first introduction to Tom King, and I was blown away. In this 12-issue maxi series, we see what happens when Viz creates his own family and attempts to assimilate into suburb living. What comes to pass is equal parts intriguing, disturbing, and heartbreaking. Watching this android family attempting to fit in and be normal was quite different from anything I’d read before, and I don’t think I’m alone there.

King’s writing was poetic and poignant. There was something fascinating about the interactions between Viz and Virginia, and how they precisely, and concisely, analyzed everything. Whether it was discussing the ironic usage of the word nice, or the semantics of ideas like certainty, belief, and luck, it was interesting to see them process information and incorporate it into their attempt at emulating a human pathos.

Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett

Al Ewing and Joe Bennett's Immortal Hulk is one of the best horror-mystery books today.

This book is the most recent on this list. At the time of writing this, only 4 issues have been released. The only thing you need to know here is that the Hulk was dead, and now he is not. Al Ewing’s choice to tell this story as straight up horror was an inspired one. Joe Bennett’s art, combined with Ewing’s script, makes for an eerie, unnerving setting as Bruce Banner goes from town to town trying to lay low while also unraveling mysteries involving gamma-ray exposed individuals like himself.

Most impressively, the last two issues have barely focused on Banner. Rather, they have centered on reporter Jackie McGee, and her investigations into these other gamma-ray afflicted individuals plus a seemingly mysterious green door that connects them all. If you don’t like the Hulk, you may still want to give this a shot. It’s unlike anything on shelves today from either of the Big Two.

The Omega Men by Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda

Surprise, surprise—I’ve included another of Tom King’s works. In Omega Men, King takes lesser known characters from the DC pantheon and weaves a space opera laced with murder, adventure, and betrayal...lots and lots of betrayal. I recently read this for the first time, and I’ll be honest, the early issues were rough. I was unaware of the previous Omega Men from the ‘80’s, nor was I familiar with Kyle Rayner.

Both of these 9 panel grids have a poetic symmetry to them.

King quickly changed all that. In fact, by #4 I was comfortable and fully-immersed. Also, Rayner may have just become my favorite lantern. One of the things that stands out, which King does well and often, is the 9-panel grid. One sequence that stood out, in particular, was a two-page affair where each grid mirrored the grid opposite it. For example, the same dialogue that was used in panel 1, was used in panel 9; same for panel 2 and panel 8, and so forth, with the middle panel having no dialogue. It was a minor thing, but it really highlighted King’s poetic tendencies.

Being one of King’s early books and one of his first Big 2 comics, it maybe comes as no surprise that there were so many parallels between this story and the conflicts he witnessed as a CIA agent in the Middle East. For example, going to war to acquire resources, branding those who oppose you as terrorists, the role of religion in all of it, etc…However, despite all the political and religious content, this book does not come across as heavy-handed. Rather, it is ultimately a densely woven tale about love, loss, and relationships.

As for the art, Barnaby Bagenda absolutely blew me away. His action had great movement, and he was able to superbly convey the emotion of this story via great facial expressions and body poses. Moreover, Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s colors really complement Bagenda’s art. In the backmatter of the trade, the team detailed its fascinating art process. They didn’t do any inking, rather they flattened right after pencils, then did the color work and added special effects. It all adds up to a gorgeous, dynamically-drawn story that grabs you right away and doesn’t let go until the final page.

Hot take: If this were published by an indie publisher, and an ongoing series, it would be spoken of in the same breath as Saga. As it stands, the book is still critically-lauded, and it helped land King firmly on everyone’s radars, and rightfully so.

Dan Slott and Mike Allred's Silver Surfer is a touching and epic cosmic love story.

Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Mike Allred

So, ummm, apparently a superhero comic can make a grown man cry. Dan Slott and Mike Allred’s Silver Surfer did just that. This series ran for 29 issues, and it tells the story of Norrin Radd and Dawn Greenwood as they traverse both the expansive cosmos above, and the ever-expanding love from deep within. You know, the kind us humans can only hope to aspire to.

Slott’s use of Dawn as a lens, through which we get to see the Surfer and the multiverse, also served as a lens through which we got to see the good in everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. This optimism was refreshing and welcoming. Furthermore, Allred’s art, and his wife Laura’s colors, really drove the positivity home with unique character designs and out-of-this-world, Kirby-esque scenery that spanned space and time.

As with Hawkeye, my favorite issue was issue #11 from Vol. 1. Again, another Eisner-award winning single issue. The layout of #11 is something that just has to be seen. Never has a layout design been so integral to a story as it has been here - it’s simply brilliant!

Cory Webber is a work-from-home entrepreneur who also reads and reviews comics for fun. Find him on Twitter at @CeeEssWebber. He lives in Lehi, Utah with his wife and three sons.

The Original West Coast Avengers #1: A True Soap Opera for Superhero Fans

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West Coast Avengers #1 from 1985.

By Theron Couch — The original West Coast Avengers #1 starts with Mockingbird leaving lipstick on Hawkeyes’s lips...I challenge Kelly Thompson and Stefano Caselli’s new West Coast Avengers to be half as tantalizing!

In fact, that first page with the lipstick business would ultimately prove to be consistent with the overall style the old book developed as it charted a course in a separate direction from its parent title, The Avengers back on the East Coast. With the West Coast Avengers returning to Marvel for the first time in ages this week, I’d like to look back today at the original series and at how its debut issue effectively used soap opera dramatics to separate itself from its parent title.

See, West Coast Avengers #1 was essentially a soap opera that just happened to guest star Ultron 12 and his henchmen, Man-Ape and Goliath. Writer Steve Engelhart spent most of the issue following personal drama rather than focusing on action. For instance, in the opening pages—when Hank Pym interrupts the Hawkeye/Mockingbird make out session—Engelhart introduced Hawkeye’s primary goal: find a sixth member to round out the team. Hawkeye then went on to offer the position to ol’ intruding Hank...who resoundly turned it down. These motivations reverberated throughout the issue, coming up repeatedly in both private moments and group scenes.

Speaking of Hank, he actually had the highlight of the issue, that being when his ex-wife Wasp (whom he didn’t want to talk to anyway) not only questioned whether he was joining the team but—unlike everyone else—agreed that he shouldn’t. In similar fashion, nigh-invulnerable Wonder Man spent much of the issue worrying about death—a fear that almost crippled him in the team’s first fight with Ultron, and Tigra spent most of the issue sorting out who and what she had become following her transformation...until she finally stopped, mid-mission, to psychoanalyze herself.

The new West Coast Avengers #1 is out now.

Artists Allen Milgrom, Joe Sinnot, and Petra Scotese complemented this soap opera scripting with superb rendering of the characters. For starters, everyone was presented consistently, whether it be via shape or shading or color. Most importantly, though, was the attention the artists paid to characters’ expressions. Even some of the best artists today still fail to present character expressions consistently or to connect those expressions to the dialogue and events taking place in the moment. The entire first issue of West Coast Avengers, however, is a study in accurate rendition of character expressions—and good thing too since you can’t very well have a soap opera without ample closeups on stricken characters.

Another soap opera-y quirk in this comic—one often found in spinoffs like this one—is packing the book with references to critical events from the past. In this issue, Engelhardt and editor Mark Gruenwald almost go overboard with 16 (!) issue callouts that see the cast frequently speaking of past events from the parent series. As if a cast of Avengers weren’t enough, Engelhardt and Gruenwald want to constantly remind readers that West Coast Avengers really is a spinoff, one that as the first page says continues the proud Avengers tradition in a west coast way.

Overall, West Coast Avengers featured no shortage of action, and this review shouldn’t be construed to mean that nothing exciting took place—indeed, a lot of exciting things did go down between the drama. This first issue, though, establishes a character style that borders at times on melodrama. The west coast way, it turns out, is the tried and true old-school soap opera. And it’s quite a lot of fun to read.

Read more of Theron’s thoughts about the original West Coast Avengers series here.

Theron Couch is a writer, blogger, and comic book reviewer. His first novel, The Loyalty of Pawns, is available on Amazon. You can also follow him on Twitter at @theroncouch.

Hawkeye, West Coast Avengers #1 & Redemption

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By Theron Couch — Superheroes fighting each other has long since gone from reliable genre convention to outright cliché. Whatever the reason for the fight’s start, it almost always turns into a let’s discuss how best to defeat a villain coffee clutch. Avengers West Coast #69, though, is one of those great examples of superhero fights that have nothing to do with upholding justice and fighting crime, and everything to do with two characters who can’t keep their mouths shut literally picking a time and place to beat each other senseless. So yes, it remains my favorite superhero fight to this day—and it also forever-defined for me a major character who is returning tomorrow in Kelly Thompson and Stefano Caselli’s new West Coast Avengers #1.

Avengers West Coast #69: The A Story & B Story

Avengers West Coast #69 is a glorified team picking. The story jumps back and forth in time, telling two stories concurrently. In the A story—the story that opens the issue—Hawkeye and US Agent dish out a mutual ass beating. In full costume and with arrows and shield, the two fighters hold little back. There is no love lost between them, and since the A story begins before the fight actually starts, it’s clear the whole thing was orchestrated in advance, which leads to the obvious question of why.

Enter the B story, which occurs earlier in the day and is confined to Avengers West Coast headquarters. The team is choosing a new roster, but before they do that General Heyworth has a message for US Agent. Both Avengers teams will operate under the United Nations going forward so the US government is no longer maintaining a representative on the teams. US Agent, who had had a guaranteed a slot on the team before, now has to earn his way on like everyone else. US Agent doesn’t take the news well, and Hawkeye rubs plenty of salt in the wound. Predictably, the voting doesn’t go US Agent’s way, and with only one vote cast in his favor he gets a spot as an alternate. The end of the B story dovetails into the A story as Hawkeye and US Agent set up a fight for later that night.

Avengers West Coast #69: The Fight

The infamous fight in Avengers West Coast #69.

It’s a lean story in Avengers West Coast #69, one that really boils down to two events of consequence: the team selecting its members, and Hawkeye and US Agent fighting. With respect to the first event there’s no real rising action or plot twist; the result of the vote is so obvious that it’s hardly a surprise when Hawkeye makes it and US Agent doesn’t. As for the fight—it’s also clear that it has no real teeth. The story is the fight rather than the outcome, so to an extent it’s overwritten.

To the benefit of both stories, though, Roy and Dann Thomas used a convention that these days is pretty common, but it much less so at the start of the ‘90s: non-linear storytelling. Both stories benefit from being broken up and interspersed with the other, preventing the vote from feeling more important than it is and keeping the fight from feeling too long. It’s a brilliant move, one that makes the issue work.

I’ve never read other issues of Avengers West Coast, so I don’t know if there is additional backstory to the Hawkeye/US Agent relationship. You don’t really need it, though. The Thomases write US Agent as a self-entitled jerk through and through. Even before the general unceremoniously delivers the news in front of the entire Avengers team with no warning, US Agent’s smug attitude goes such a long way to damaging him in the readers’ eyes.

Hawkeye, though, is actually almost worse—and this is where I wish I did know the backstory. Hawkeye starts rubbing salt in US Agent’s wounds immediately, and it’s entirely personal. At no point does he offer a compelling argument for why US Agent is a detriment to the team. Hawkeye just doesn’t like him, and he’s having a good time kicking him while he’s down. The pettiness behind both men’s actions colors the fight and sets it into a special class—a more personal class—of hero combat. There are no lofty ideals here.

Can Hawkeye Be Redeemed?

West Coast Avengers #1 is out Aug. 22.

Overall, Avengers West Coast #69 has all the makings of a forgettable one-off. And if not for the non-linear storytelling device, I’m not sure it would be so much fun. But it is the comic book that colored my perception of Hawkeye forever. US Agent is a jerk in this story. Everybody knows it. And everybody knows he’s not making it on the Avengers. But only Hawkeye takes the tack that he shouldn’t; he does it very personally and very publicly. Even if he’s right, his attitude in the B story and his willingness to stoop to US Agent’s level is definitely a stain on someone who just got overwhelmingly voted on to the team.

What’s more, the promised suspension at the end of the issue rings very much like the kind of non-punishment reserved for popular members of teams and groups. To me Hawkeye walks away from this fight looking far worse as a character, and to this day I’ve been ambivalent toward him, if not outright suspicious—his defining moment to me is a petty fight on the beach because he was talking shit to someone in a position beneath him.

Here’s wondering if Kelly Thompson can, at long last, redeem Clint Barton in my eyes.

Theron Couch is a writer, blogger, and comic book reviewer. His first novel, The Loyalty of Pawns, is available on Amazon. You can also follow him on Twitter at @theroncouch.