Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This week, columnist Steve Bennett talks about the comics he is looking forward to reading in 2022.
Last week I did a favorite comic list (see “Confessions Of A Comic Book Guy — My Favorite Comics Of 2021”), so naturally the most obvious thing for me to do this week is compose a brief list of the comics coming up in 2022 that I’m looking forward to reading most:
Astro City: Flashback by Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, and Brent Anderson. It’s been entirely too long since we’ve seen an issue of Astro City, and from the preview pages provided I can happily say it’s every bit as good as it use to be. As so often the case with this series, Busiek and Anderson seem to have crafted a story, about a group of teen sidekicks going on a late 60’s cross country trip, with mostly me in mind. And like Batman/Superman: World’s Finest and like nearly every comic these days, there are lots and lots of variant covers.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest by Mark Waid and artist Dan Mora. All we really have to go on with this one is the “Mark Waid” credit, and since I’m more than happy to read anything by Waid, that’s good enough for me. Oh, there are also some very nice variant covers; one featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld that will be available to stores that order 100 copies. Speaking of Jerry, I seem to remember something I once read about the comedian saying that he wanted to write a Superman’s Pal, Jerry Seinfeld comic book, but then he was too busy writing his synonymous sitcom. Of course, I can’t find any confirmation of this anywhere on the Internet, and my memory is horrible. But if it is true, well, someone should remind Mr. Seinfeld because he doesn’t appear to be particularly busy, and I’d still really like to read that comic.
Fantastic Four, Full Circle by Alex Ross. Even if I wasn’t a huge fan of both the Fantastic Four and Alex Ross, which I am, this would be a pretty big deal. It’s a collaboration between Marvel and Abrams Comic Arts done in a larger size similar to the late, lamented Marvel Graphic Novel line from the 80s. And Ross is apparently doing Fantastic Four, Full Circle in an experimental style; I’ve seen it described as being “pop art”. But for some reason, it reminds me more of the Fantastic Four Marvelmania 3-D posters from the 70s. I literally can’t wait to see this one.
I’ve always been a huge Legion of Super-Heroes fan as well as Bendis’ recent run on the Legion comic. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the only one who has been able to figure out how to make the franchise work for modern audiences. So, I’m well pleased I have Justice League vs. Legion of Super-Heroes, a six-issue miniseries from Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski, to look forward to.
And while it isn’t coming in 2022, we actually have an ‘adult animated’ Legion of Super-Heroes being developed for HBO Max Brian Michael Bendis coming out in the foreseeable future. With Bendis involved, I’m fairly confident that by ‘adult’ they mean it’s meant for adults, not kids, as opposed to the way that Harley Quinn: The Animated Series is meant for “adult audiences” (language, sex, etc).
And, finally, even though I’m not much of a gamer, I do love uncanny character crossovers, so I was looking forward to playing the upcoming fighting game MultiVersus. It uses such wildly varied WarnerMedia characters as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Shaggy, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, Steven Universe, Garnet, Finn the Human, and Jake the Dog. Then they announced the 13th playable character, Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
That’s right first Jerry Seinfeld is on a variant comic book cover and now, Larry David the co-creator of the sitcom Seinfeld is a character in a fighting game. I have to confess, I’ve never been a big fan of Larry David the person or the fictionalized version of himself he plays on his HBO series. I frankly can’t wait to see Steven Universe, the bastion of love and positivity, beat the misanthropy out of David.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
Source: ICv2
