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borg’s Best of 2019–The Best Books of the Year

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — 1 Comment

December 30, 2019

Our borg Best of 2019 list continues today with the Best Books of 2019. If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2019 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2019 here, the Best in Television 2019 here, and the Best Comics of 2019 here.

We reviewed more than 100 books that we recommended to our readers this year, and some even made it onto our favorites shelf. We don’t print reviews of books that we read and don’t recommend, so this shortlist reflects only this year’s cream of the crop.

So let’s get going. Here are our selections for this year:

Best Read, Best Fantasy Read, Best New Edition of Previous Published Work, Best Translated Work – A Hero Born: Legends of the Condor Heroes 1 by Jin Yong, translated by Anna Holmwood (St. Martin’s Press). The first book in one of the most read books of all time finally makes its way to the U.S. after its premiere in Great Britain. Readers will learn why George Lucas pulled its concepts for his Skywalker saga, and why generations of Chinese fans of fantasy of flocked to its heroes and villains. Honorable mention for Best Fantasy Read: A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery by Curtis Craddock (Tor Books), The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz (Algonquin Young Readers).

Best New Novel, Best Horror Novel, Best Historical Novel, Best Mystery Novel – The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils by James Lovegrove (Titan Books). A truly literary work combining a smart Holmesian adventure and the dark mind of H.P. Lovecraft. Readers will love Lovegrove’s approach, Holmes and Watson’s journey, and all the creepy surprises.

Best Sci-Fi Novel, Best Thriller – The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson (HarperCollins). Wilson successfully conjured the spirit of Michael Crichton for this smart, creepy, and oddly current sci-fi sequel to The Andromeda Strain. A cast of characters just like Crichton would have put together, and a must-read.

Best Franchise Tie-In Novel – Firefly: Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrove (Titan Books). One of the best authors around crafts a worthy story to expand the Firefly canon and give fans their own new movie of sorts for the franchise. Runner-up: Alien: Prototype by Tim Waggoner (Titan Books). Honorable Mention: Death of the Planet of the Apes by Andrew E.C. Gaska (Titan Books).

Best Retro Read – Mike Hammer: Murder, My Love, by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Titan Books). Collins continues to bring Spillane’s characters to life with thrilling prose and all the best pieces of noir drama and action. Honorable mention: Brothers Keepers by Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime).

Best Genre Non-Fiction – Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Making of Solo: A Star Wars Story by Rob Bredow (Harry N. Abrams). Bredow’s unique access to the production made for a rare opportunity in any production to see details of the filmmaking process. Every movie should have such a great deep dive behind the scenes. Honorable mention: The Making of Alien by J.W. Rinzler (Titan Books).

There’s much more of our selections for 2019’s Best in Print to go…

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Tags: 1980s Trivial Pursuit 2019, 2019 ReAction line, A Hero Born, A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery, Abrams Books for Young Readers, Alex Lopez, Algonquin Young Readers, Alien: Prototype, Andrew E. C. Gaska, Andromeda Evolution, Anna Holmwood, Baby Yoda, Baseball All-Stars ReAction figures, Ben Herrera, Best Books 2019, Best in Print, Best in Print 2019, Best of 2019, Bloomsbury Sigma, Brothers Keepers, Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, Christmas is Coming book, Collin Fogel, Curtis Craddock, Dan Jones, Daniel H. Wilson, David Hahn, Death of the Planet of the Apes, Disney Plus, Donald E. Westlake, Dynamic Dames: 50 Leading Ladies Who Made History, Feast of Legends, Firefly, Firefly: Magnificent Nine, Firefly: The Big Damn Cookbook, Hard Case Crime, Harper, HarperCollins, Harry N. Abrams, Hasbro Gaming, Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Making Solo: A Star Wars Story, J.W. Rinzler, James Lovegrove, Jin Yong, Joshua Dysart, Kathryn Harkup, Kevin Eastman Studios, Klaus: The Art of the Movie, Lucasfilm, Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Marina Amaral, Mario Mentasti, Max Allan Collins, Men in Black International novelization, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mickey Spillane, Mike Hammer, Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars Ships +Battles, Murder My Love, Pegasus Books, R.S. Belcher, Ramin Zahed, Rob Bredow, Running Press, Sarah Jean Horwitz, Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils, Simon Gane, Sloan De Forest, Solo: A Star wars Story, St. Martin's Press, Stranger Things, Stranger Things Back to the 80s Trivial Pursuit Game, Super7, The Child, The Color of Time, The Cthulhu Casebooks, The Dark Lord Clementine, The Making of Alien, The Mandalorian, The Moviemaking Magic of Marvel Studios: Heroes and Villains book review, The Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars: Creatures & Aliens, Tim Waggoner, Titan Books, Tor Books, Trivial Pursuit, Wendy's, Wendy's Feast of Legends, Wendy's RPG, Weta

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borg’s Best of 2019–The Best in Comics

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment

December 29, 2019

Our borg Best of 2019 list continues today with the Best in Comics. If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2019 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2019 here, and the Best in Television 2019 here.

We reviewed comics from every major publisher this year, and were pleasantly surprised with all the new characters and content available. You’ll find both some new creators on the list this year and some fan favorites who keep making better comic books each new year.

Here are the best comic books for 2019:

Best Limited Comic Series (tie) – Sara by Garth Ennis and Steve Epting (TKO Studios) and Goodnight Paradise by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli (TKO Studios). The new publisher TKO Studios began with a bang with these two incredible stories. Sara is what every fan of war comics hopes for, and Goodnight Paradise brings the realities of life in the 21st century to the comics page in a story that will stay with readers a long time.

Best Ongoing Comic Book Series – Ghost Tree by Bobby Curnow and Simon Gane (IDW Publishing). Haunting, mythic, and sweeping, this story of a man reflecting on his past and coming to terms with the present combines with Asian legend tropes to form an emotional and curiously funny tale. Sure to leave readers begging for more.

Best Sci-Fi Comic Series, Best Comic Book Writing – Ascender by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen (Image Comics). Lemire owned this category with two fabulous science fiction tales, both with strong female lead characters. Runner-up: Sentient by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta (TKO Studios).

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Tags: Alberto Ponticelli, Alex Lopez, Anita Bennett, Ascender, Aztec Empire, Batman, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Crisis in a Half Shell, Ben Herrera, Best Comic Books 2019, Best in Print, Best in Print 2019, Best of 2019, Big Red Hair, Bobby Curnow, Crisis in a Half Shell, David Hahn, DC Comics, Dustin Nguyen, Dynamite, Ed Piskor, Fantastic Four: Grand Design, Frank Cho, Freddie Williams II, Gabriel Walta, Garth Ennis, Ghost Tree, Goodnight Paradise, Hard Case Crime, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, James Tynion IV, Jaxxon, Jeff Lemire, Jin Yong, Joshua Dysart, Kevin Eastman Studios, Mario Mentasti, Marvel Comics, Max Allan Collins, Ms. Tree, Ms. Tree One Mean Mother, Obey Me, Paul Guinan, Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls, Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls Issue #1, Rob Bredow, Sara graphic novel, Sentient, Simon Gane, Stan Sakai, Star Wars 108, Star Wars Adventures, Steve Epting, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Green Lantern Issue 6, The War of the Realms, Titan Comics, TKO Studios, TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo, Usagi Yojimbo, Valance

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Review–A homeless man searches for a murderer in Goodnight Paradise

Filed under: Comics & Books — Leave a comment

January 29, 2019

Review by C.J. Bunce

Life in California is not all that sunny for everyone. The fourth and last of our reviews of the initial release of graphic novels from new publisher TKO Studios looks at Goodnight Paradise, a peek into the day-by-day drudgery and dim chance of survival of the homeless. When a homeless girl is found dead in a dumpster, the man who found her has enough information to find her killer. Unfortunately his mind is addled through a rough life, alcoholism, and mental illness, and he’s struggling to put it all together.

Readers are introduced to a story “ripped from the headlines” like an old Law & Order episode, as real-world tech corporation Snapchat makes new millionaires and billionaires, and outside its doors across Venice Beach the poor and the homeless are getting shuffled away, the culture of the town turned upside down as real estate shifts and the past culture of the area is squeezed out. The people living in the alleys all are at the end of their ropes, just to varying degrees. As more young people hit the streets without income sources, those with mental illnesses run out of their prescription drugs to keep them in control, compounding their struggle as they spiral into confusion and anger. Enter Tessa, a young woman who leaves home to come to the coast to see the ocean. She befriends a small, tight group of people who protect each other. When she videotapes a woman being drugged for sex by one of the new rich types at a party, she’s hunted down by his thug to protect the guy’s reputation. But is everything as it seems in Goodnight Paradise?

Writer Joshua Dysart (Unknown Soldier, B.P.R.D.) creates a deconstructed superhero of sorts out of his homeless protagonist. This man is like DC Comics’ Oliver Queen, but stripped of his money and his sanity, yet his sense of right and wrong remain intact. Artist Alberto Ponticelli (Unknown Soldier), with colors by Giulia Brusco (Scalped), introduce readers to layered characters in scenes not using sleight of hand so much as revealing the realities of perception and bias. Scenes that seem one way at first only are rediscovered by the reader to have their meanings changed when seen and explained from the perspectives of other characters–in a way Ponticelli shows the comic book medium can take advantage of.

Here is a preview of Goodnight Paradise:

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Tags: Alberto Ponticelli, Giulia Brusco, Goodnight Paradise, Goodnight Paradise review, Harvey Pekar, Joshua Dysart, Law & Order, Oliver Queen, Steve Wands, TKO Studios, TKO Studios previews

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First Ringo comic book industry award ceremony honors Lewis, Young, Cho, Staples, King, and more

Filed under: Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment

September 24, 2017

Named after the late beloved comic book creator Mike Wieringo, the first ever ‘Ringo! Awards were presented during an irreverent and humor-filled ceremony Saturday night at the end of the second day of Baltimore Comic-Con 2017. This year the annual Harvey Awards were renamed in Wieringo’s honor. Wieringo was an artist best known for his work on DC Comics’ The Flash, Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, and his co-creation Tellos (discussed earlier this year here at borg.com).

Voters from more than 100 countries selected the nominees and winners were picked from a final ballot by members of the comic book industry creative community. Presenters last night included Mark Waid, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Amy Chu, Tom Brevoort, Walter and Louise Simonson, Terry and Robyn Moore, Kazu Kibuishi, Charlie Kochman, Lora Innes, Thom Zahler, Todd Dezago, and Craig Rousseau, with a keynote speech provided by multiple Eisner Award winner and Mouse Guard creator and David Petersen.

The ceremony provided two Hero Initiative awards, the Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award to Joshua Dysart, and the Lifetime Achievement Award to Marv Wolfman. Multiple winners included John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell for their civil rights story March: Book III, winning for Best Original Graphic Novel and Best Non-Fiction Comic Work, and Skottie Young, recognized as Best Cartoonist and for his I Hate Fairyland as Best Humor Comic.