years in review: 2018 | 2019 | 2020
We all agree that 2020 was a garbage year.
Like everyone else, 2020 changed my life and not for the better. (Not that the year was ever off to a good start – remember the fires in Australia?) The shutdowns, job losses, and coronavirus itself has impacted me, my family, my professional life and my people. It’s basically impossible to talk about this year without the pandemic overshadowing it – and I assume that will always be the case.
Last year’s beautifully naive review concluded, “Happy New Year and start to the decade! At the moment, my goal is to read 120 books next year – let’s see what happens!“
I’m counting down the hours for 2021 – especially a certain day in January – but I’m also grateful for comic books helping me get through the year. While I was often too overwhelmed with work and life to read, when I did have the time, that escapism was everything.
So let’s get into the numbers that literally no one aside from me will care about!
I set a goal to read 75 comic books and graphic novels in 2020, expecting to extend it to 100 midway through the year. By the end of the year, I still surpassed that goal with 83 comics.
Why was it lower? A few reasons:
- The world was garbage and I overworked for several months, which meant less time to read and write reviews
- Books I planned to purchase were delayed; my comic book shop closed; the library was closed for months
- As the international conversation around race and Black Lives Matter reignited over the summer, I spent time reading antiracism books, such as How To Be An Antiracist and Me and White Supremacy.
These aren’t excuses, nor are they by far the worst things that happened to me and all of us in 2020. I’m grateful that I had the means to purchase a Marvel Unlimited subscription for a few months, and became an almost exclusive Marvel reader for a good part of 2020. Almost half the books I read this year were Marvel books, including 9 Star Wars books, the most of any publisher.
I usually count my reviews for the year, but I chose not to this time, especially since I had five entries of mini reviews, a reflection that I was both overwhelmed and desperate to read as much as I could when I had the time.
My most-read series of the year is…Doctor Aphra! I fell in love with this snarky archaeologist and her quirky, dark corner of the Star Wars world over 7 volumes (the full original series), even though her last two volumes were really disappointing. In second place was five volumes of Giant Days, an epic read that began at the end of 2019 and continued through the winter.
My favorite superhero of the year were Ironheart, Gwenpool, Spider-Man, and Rogue & Gambit! Ironheart was a great discovery this year, I finished Chris Hastings’ Gwenpool series, and found new favorite arcs for old favorite heroes.
My most-read team of 2020 was the X-Men, and the Marvel Unlimited subscription allowed me to read some big X-Men arcs I had on my list forever, including House of M and the utterly brilliant House of X/Powers of X.
It’s no surprise that all of my favorites are diverse women, including queer women of color, but it’s unfortunate that nearly all of their creators are white men – the only exception is Ironheart with Eve L. Ewing took over from Bendis. While several series I enjoyed featured minorities behind and on the page (America comes to mind), it’s still a disappointing reality.
Of the 83 books I read, 15 were graphic novels, which was 18% of my total reading; a third were new series, and six were rereads (also a product of the pandemic). I read mostly superhero books (32); other popular genres were sci fi and nonfiction memoirs; memoirs are quickly becoming a favorite graphic novel genre. Last year I had a goal to read more horror books, and I completely failed it with only one horror book this year…and I’m okay with that. This year has been scary enough. I read one webcomic, Lore Olympus, but it continues to be one of my favorite reads of the year.
I also continue to work on diversity in my reading, and hopefully that shows in the numbers: 63% of the leads were women, 42% were a person of color, and 30% were LGBTQ. (Some books counted in multiple categories, like Dr Aphra.) I also read material by 14 female writers and 15 female artists – again, some creators counted as both, like Robin Ha and Eleanor Crewes. Unfortunately, this is where my Marvel reading did not help the numbers – I’d like to get that diversity back on up for next year.
Let’s get to the comics creators! I read the most books by John Allison (Giant Days), Kieron Gillen (Aphra, Die) and Simon Spurrier (Aphra). However, my favorite author of the year was Gene Luen Yang! Dragon Hoops and Superman Smashes the Klan were two favorite books of the year, and I also read Yang’s first two Avatar comic adaptations.
My favorite artist of 2020 was phenomenal art team Gurihiru, and they were also my most popular artist across the most series titles, including Avatar and Gwenpool. Close in second was Max Sarin of Giant Days. My most popular colorist was Rachelle Rosenberg on five books; this was the first time I also kept track of colorists, and I’d like to also start tracking inkers and letterers for next year.
My comic book collection also grew – last year I predicted I would need a new bookshelf, and in January that became a reality! I’m excited to continue my collection, even though my purchasing took a dip once the pandemic started. (This is about a year and a half into collecting.)
My favorite purchases of the year were Dragon Hoops, Giant Days deluxe editions, and They Called Us Enemy; I got some amazing gifts including the B:TAS art book, Superman Smashes the Klan, and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. My most regretted purchase was Coda, which I still haven’t finished.
My favorite books of 2020
The moment you’ve been waiting for! In no particular order, here are my favorite books of 2020! See below for the links to reviews.
Doctor Aphra vol 5: Worst Among Equals, Gwenpool vol 4: Beyond the Fourth Wall, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man vol 1: Secrets and Rumors, Magnificent Ms Marvel vol 1: Destined, Superman Smashes the Klan, March (book 1, 2-3), When Stars are Scattered, Runaways vol 5: Canon Fodder, Dragon Hoops, House / Powers of X (Goodreads review), Almost American Girl, Giant Days vol 11 (no review), Ironheart: Those With Courage, The Fire Never Goes Out, and Rogue & Gambit: Ring of Fire.
Thoughts for next year. Well, now I know better than to tempt fate! I think next year, I’ll set the same goal – 75 books – and see how far I exceed it. I want to continue seeking out minority comics and creators, especially nonbinary and trans creators.
See you in 2021!
Reading Art 