March offered a lot in the world of comic books. We saw multiple new series with a strong showing and many DC stories coming to a close to prepare for April's CONVERGENCE. With so many awesome comics coming out, week after week, it can be a little tough to figure out what was the best of the best. Each month, the staff of Comic Vine buckles down and picks their top three comics from each month. Let's take a look at what we all picked as our favorites for March, 2015.
Tony's Picks
Written by Mark Millar
Art by Sean Murphy
Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
Time travel? Check. Action and adventure? Check, check. Suspenseful cliffhanger ending? CHECK. Mark Millar and Sean Murphy have unleashed a new series and despite the numerous time travel comics and stories we’ve seen, they make this one work in big ways.
It’s always tricky with a new series with brand new characters. Millar balances the introduction of the main players with enough information and action to keep readers hooked. When taking on something like the technology needed to make time travel possible, writers have to decide how realistic to make it seem and how much explanation is needed. All of this is handled with ease and the how and why makes plenty of sense.
The art? Sean Murphy always amazes us with his art. It’s just so dang good. I find myself immersed into whatever story he’s drawing and, before you know it, you’re left with a sad feeling because the issue has come to an end.
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen also had the task of introducing us to a new world. Actually, they didn’t just introduce us to a new world, it was more like a new universe. There was a bold move with a big event leaving a huge mark and the story then shifting ten years later.
Lemire set things up nicely with the events and characters we get to meet. Dustin Nguyen created some breathtaking visuals. I always find Sci-Fi comic books balancing a fine line in making the visuals work without feeling too artificial. Nguyen does an amazing job and leaves you hungry for more. Tim-21 immediately became a likable character and you can’t help but become concern for the situation he ends up in.
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Aaron Kuder
Colored by Wil Quintana
With a more classic Bizarro, this comic became easy to fall in love with. The recent version we saw in FOREVER EVIL was good with a slightly different take on him. But this was a return to the old days with plenty of fun and wacky shenanigans for Superman to deal with. We usually get big and heavy stories. It’s not often we get a story that is like a breath of fresh air. Superman fighting on Bizarro World was a nice change of pace and gave us something different for the one issue.
Some may have asked or wondered what impact the story would have to Superman’s continuity or the series. At the end of the day, does it really matter what the impact is? We will see a Bizarro mini-series after Convergence and this was a great appetizer for what we could expect.
Mat's Picks
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Aaron Kuder
Colored by Wil Quintana
A lot of DC books wrapped up their stories this past month and a lot of them felt a tad rushed, but what ACTION COMICS did was give readers an insanely fun one-shot story where Superman heads to Bizarroworld and meets up with the ever-lovable, backwards-talking Bizarro. Me hate this book. Is that how it works? I've never been good with Bizarro-talk.
While Bizarro had already been introduced into the New 52, it was quite a departure from the more fun version character. However, we get a return to the older version of this character and the story was pretty ridiculous. It was actually the perfect break from what's been going on in ACTION COMICS previously, which has been extremely dark and felt pretty hopeless for quite a while. This was an incredibly fun romp and Aaron Kuder's art looks awesome, especially with Wil Quintana's colors added because he's awesome. It was just a great one-shot anyone could read.
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Michael Gaydos, Rachel Deering, Kelly Fitzpatrick
I really loved the first issue of this new series from Dark Circle Comics, the darker or more adult side of Archie Comics, and I got even more excited about this series after reading the second issue. I haven't had a series grab me so hard and so quickly in quite a long time.
This book has been a great character study about a police officer who has to take on the role he was fighting against. There's so much more to that and this particular issue takes the reader through a loop and everything seemingly changes, for the worse. The book is dark and gritty, two adjectives I've beaten to death when talking to people about it, but it's true. Swierczynski has really put hit stamp on this character and made it his own. And to top it all off, Gaydos' art is simply wonderful and really creates a chilling tone for this book.
Written by Matt Kindt
Penciled by Trevor Hairsine
Inked by Ryan Winn
Colored by David Baron
DIVINITY is the first book that I really felt elevated the Valiant Universe to new heights. I'm not saying anything bad about their other books. I've been a big fan and campaigner for this company since close to the beginning of their reboot. However, DIVINITY brings something very special to this shared universe. It's more high-concept science-fiction without being too much.
Kindt's concept is great and it's hard to look away for numerous reasons. There's this brilliant surreal storytelling to it as something from the unknown has come back to Earth, but it's someone who originally was from Earth. The first issue really set the tone but the second issue tied it into the rest of the Valiant Universe. At first, it was something I was a bit conflicted about, but after multiple readings, which DIVINITY really deserves, this is just an extremely well crafted book that is a blast to read.
Gregg's Picks
Written by Matt Kindt
Penciled by Clay Mann and Butch Guice
Inked by Seth Mann
Colored by Ulises Arreola
Valiant took its sweet time giving the world a new Ninjak series. Thankfully, it was totally worth the wait. The series made a smart, exciting and gorgeous debut. It doesn't matter if you're a Valiant expert or if this is your first time dipping your toes into the Valiant Universe's pool, Matt Kindt and Clay Mann made sure this is a comic that can hook anyone. Unless you're completely against the idea of badass ninjas and spies, this first issue is going to win you over with its brief display of slick action, character insight, and a nice balance of comedy and exposition as it establishes a pretty interesting plot. NINJAK is here and it needs to be on your pull list.
Written by Tim Wiesch
Art by Eric Powell
Eric Powell and Tim Wiesch's new Image limited series is amazing and completely engrossing. It's a character-driven story that's deliciously dark, emotional, and ridiculously entertaining. As completely expected, Powell's artwork never fails to pull you right into each and every panel.
This one isn't for the easily offended -- it's vulgar, violent, and frequently abrasive -- but if that doesn't apply to you, then you simply have to check this out.
This first chapter didn't tell us much about the bigger picture, but when the writing and artwork is so captivating, it really doesn't matter. Unless you're easily offended or not a fan of more mature titles, you really need to read the first issue of BIG MAN PLANS. It's twisted fun and totally gripping.
Written by Joshua Dysart
Art by Doug Braithwaite
Colored by Dave McCaig
There's so many options I was considering for my third pick, but the final spot has to go to Valiant's second issue of IMPERIUM; it's easily one of the most fascinating comics out there. Instead of giving Toyo Harada the spotlight, this chapter focuses on a new character named Gravedog.
Once again, writer Joshua Dysart is able to give these characters depth, offer plenty of commentary,and he moves the story forward while hitting us with just enough action and one big twist. Both issues have been great character studies which also do a satisfying job covering the bigger picture and hit us with just enough spectacle. Throw in Doug Braithwaite's artwork and this really should be an obvious purchase.
There you have it! That's what we loved this past month. However, we also want to hear about what you loved! Let us know in the comment section below what your favorite comics for March.