My (Comic) Most Wanted List for 2013

So, now the holidays have ended and odds are you’re back at work and/or school, with the shine possibly wearing off your new year.

But look to the good things, fellow geeks!  Because a new year means 12 whole months of fresh comics!

And while my year will include, at least for the moment, investment in existing series (mainly Batgirl, Hawkeye and Angel & Faith), 2013 is also forcing me to make room for some new titles we’re slated to see this year.

Which titles, you ask?  Well, let me tell you what I’m anticipating this year!

ADVENTURE TIME WITH FIONNA AND CAKE

You DID pick up the first issue of this, right?  It came out this week, you still have time!

So, Adventure Time did this episode where they swapped all the genders of the characters (if it sounds like a fanfiction-y thing, well, spoiler alert, it was in the end revealed to all be part of a fanfiction story the Ice King had written about Finn and Jake).  This episode ended up being a fan favorite and spawned several hundred thousand Fionna cosplayers.

Okay, that number is just a rough estimate.

Anyway, Fionna and her cat, Cake, now have their own six issue limited series, following on the heels of last year’s Adventure Time mini, Marceline and the Scream Queens.  Bonus: both of these minis have concentrated on girls in the leading rolls and both titles are written and drawn by women.  Props to AT for not just paying lip service to girl power.

YOUNG AVENGERS

First of all, it is just awesome to see the Young Avengers getting their own title once again.

Especially one with such an epic line-up.  Great to see familiar faces returning and pumped about the new comers.  And come on, the incentive cover for issue #1 drawn by Bryan Lee O’Malley is enough to make me imagine a second story in each issue, drawn by O’Malley and just being about the Young Avengers going out clubbing.

Second of all, let’s address the part where the creative team behind the new YA series is Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.  Why is this important? Read on.

PHONOGRAM VOLUME 3: THE IMMATERIAL GIRL

Originally slated for 2012, Gillen and McKelvie announced late last year that the title was actually being pushed into 2013.  That had better hold true.  Because the new volume is supposed to focus on Emily Aster and her dual personalities, one of which she had “banished.”

The whole idea of “pop music as a form of magic” thing is both a) very Grant Morrison and b) a really interesting premise for a series.  Granted, my knowledge of the bands mentioned throughout Phonogram Volumes 1 and 2 is limited, but I’m ready to enjoy the story and maybe have my mind blown and my musical horizons expanded.

THE TRUE LIVES OF THE FABULOUS KILLJOYS

Speaking of my taste in music: yeah, I originally started reading Gerard Way’s Umbrella Academy because I like My Chemical Romance.  Also, he’s pretty easy on the eyes.  Judge me if you must, I am beyond the concept of guilty pleasures at this point.

Way’s proven himself as an effective writer with TUA, though, so I don’t feel I’m wrong in looking forward to this series, which will see him partner with artist Becky Cloonan and friend Shaun Simon to tell a story that was also partially integrated into MCR’s most recent studio album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.  The Killjoys themselves are desert dwelling resistance members in a post-apocalyptic California who…well, okay, no spoilers here, but if you’ve seen the video for the single “Sing,” you know that going into this comic will be interesting.

Though this has been years in the making, at New York Comic-Con, the creative team promised that our first look at the Killjoys in comic form will be on Free Comic Book Day 2013, with the series looking to start in June.

So, what are YOU guys looking forward to this year?  Share your thoughts, feel no shame!

–Ashly is an IHO Geek contributor and her Killjoy name was “Miss America” long before she learned of the Young Avenger of the same name.  Find her on Twitter @newageamazon