10. Justice League Dark (DC Comics)

If you read reviews of Justice League Dark, and in particular those by reviewers who haven’t been following the magic-themed team-up from DC, you’ll read about people being surprised or impressed by what may be an otherwise lower profile title. The truth is that there may not be a more consistently enjoyable comic from the publisher, with very little fluff and filler throughout 2020. While the book may have most recently been tied up in the Endless Winter event, it served that story nicely and seems primed to take readers into interesting arcs in 2021. 

9. Vision (Fantagraphics)

A secret of mine is that as I get older I find that I prefer fully collected graphic novels to single issue floppies. With COVID-19 making traveling to my local comic shop equal parts time consuming and anxiety inducing, I spent more attention than usual to the graphic novel scene, and it definitely paid off. Fantagraphics has some really great books with really unique art styles. Vision creator Julia Gfrörer first landed on my radar with the incredible 2016 book Laid Waste, and Vision shows her unique style and distinctly gothic voice on full display. This is the kind of comic that non-comic fans would love, because more than anything else it feels different. 

8. Killadephia (Image Comics)

It’s the 90’s again! Not really. We’re more of an 80’s crowd here at NewRetroWave, but it’s hard not to see the Vertigo-esque streak in several books from all kinds of different publishers in the past year. Killadelphia is one such book. With writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander at both of their peaks, this comic is a dark and sometimes nightmarish look at vampires in the city of brotherly love. And while that description is very elevator-pitch high concept, the story itself is anything but a novelty. It’s a unique and gripping comic. 

7. Don’t Go Without Me (Shortbox)

Let it be known that there are no better book covers in all of 2020, or possibly even the last half decade, than Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s breathtaking cover of Don’t Go Without Me. I had never read any of her previous work and knew nothing of the book but purchased it immediately upon seeing it, and I was not disappointed. While different from the other books here in that this is an anthology and not a serialized or complete story, and it has some work that actually appeared initially a few years ago (albeit, in slightly different form). Don’t Go Without Me is a great book with a singularly fantastic visual style. 

6. Immortal Hulk (Marvel Comics)

Fun fact time: I have never liked The Hulk. Perhaps even more so than some other superheroes I have a disdain for, Hulk stories always bored me. Immortal Hulk was what I always needed. This is not a superhero story in the way that you might initially believe. With an art style that verges on body horror at times, Immortal Hulk grounds everything to the ultra-personal, to create a comic that is often gut wrenching and distressing, but always great. Writer Al Ewing and artist Joe Bennett delivered in 2020 with this series. 

5. The Department of Truth (Image Comics)

The Department of Truth rests on a simple premise: what if every conspiracy theory was true? This is not a new idea, as I can think of at least three comics off the top of my head that start or go through the same or similar premise. What sets this comic apart is just how good James Tynion IV is at telling this story. This comic premiered in September of this year and had easily the best debut issue of a comic in all of 2020. With strong art from Martin Simmonds accompanying the great writing, I cannot wait to follow this story through 2021. 

4. X-Men (Marvel Comics)

The absolute state of X-Men in 2020 compared to, like, three years ago is astounding. Jonathan Hickman has not only revitalized so many of the beloved characters from the X-line (it’s finally nice to be a Cyclops fan), but has revitalized the line itself. Hickman’s ability to make the mutants of the 616 feel like they live in a living, breathing world can’t be overstated. X of Swords was, personally, a little hit or miss for me, but it’s hard to argue against the high points of a series that already demands high expectations. 

3. Excellence (Image Comics)

It’s a cliche at this point to say that Excellence lives up to its namesake in some capacity when talking about the critically acclaimed fantasy story from writer Brandon Thomas and artists Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez. But how can you blame such reviewers? The book is called Excellence and it has been one of the best books every week that it came out since it debuted in 2019. While I love and appreciate this book as a comic, there are no other books that have come out this year that I have read and thought “Make this an animated series or a movie or something right now” quite as much as Excellence. 

2. John Contantine: Hellblazer (DC Comics)

I’ve got to level with you. I didn’t read any of this series until I saw some friends upset about its premature ending from DC, one which by all accounts the story was able to pull off anyways. I didn’t read through any other entire series this quickly in 2020. John Constantine: Hellblazer was a downright special book from Simon Spurrier and a changing cast of artists. While it had spectacle and truly stand-out artwork, this comic truly excelled at making the titular character feel more alive than he has in years. 

1. The Dollhouse Family (DC Comics)

Expectations were high for The Dollhouse Family, as it had a strong creative team and would be the first of Joe Hill’s DC Comics imprint Hill House. It feels kind of surreal that this is a book put out by DC Comics. Not because of the quality, while this was my favorite book of the year you can clearly see I was a fan of what DC brought to 2020, but rather because it feels like the first time I found out that DC owned Vertigo. It just feels so different from what someone would expect from a comic, let alone a mainstream comic. It’s spooky and full of simultaneously heart and venom, and an easy recommendation for anybody. 

10. Fixing Me With Love by Sunglasses Kid & Primo the Alien

One of perhaps the most exciting trends in synthwave these past few years has been a greater emphasis on rhythmic elements and an almost optimistic tendency from the vocalists in the scene. “Fixing Me With Love” has both of these in full force in a killer track with one of the best choruses of the year hands down. When the drums drop out and Primo’s voice shares the spotlight with the chiming melodies from Sunglasses Kid the song lures you in further before everything in the song hits even harder. 

Listen to the song here.

9. Overload (ft. Tokyo Rose) by Tonebox

On January 1, 2020, the grim music video for Overload by Tonebox featuring the always impressive Tokyo Rose debuted on NRW’s channel. Little did we know that bloodbath video would tonally be a match for the year the world seems to have been collectively having. Video aside, the song is a moody and atmospheric piece which builds a foreboding atmosphere from beginning to end and doesn’t sound like it would be out of place on some acid house alternate universe version of Akuma. 

Listen to the song here.

8. Synthian (ft. LAU) by NINA

The titular track from NINA’s album from this past June shows why the German singer is and has been such a sought after vocal commodity in the retrowave scene. This time paired with a more laid back and more hip-hop inspired beat for much of the song, everything here elicits a dreamy energy that makes it something truly special. 

Listen to the song here.

7. A New Quest (Droid Bishop Remix) by Magic Sword

I’m not sure how fair it is to include a remix on a collaborations list, but come on, it’s Magic Sword, one of the most phenomenally consistent acts in the scene. And who is remixing? Only Droid Bishop, another one of the most accomplished artists in the scene, and one who released a serious AOTY contender this past September. The “A New Quest” remix fuses the ethereal with the triumphant, creating the rare and odd feeling of a round of applause greeting you in a liminal space. 

Listen to the song here.

6. Work It Out by Team Sweatwave

As a species, we are far, far too cruel to one another to have deserved something as great and incredibly fun as the Team Sweatwave album from May 2020. You can argue that this is more of a supergroup than a collaboration, but let’s not get pedantic about it, nerd. Polemic Heart’s vocals on “Work It Out” are one of the most unique and hook-laden vocals of the year, unquestionably. In fact, the synth work and guitar work by the collaborative team of Turbo Knight, YORU, Dimi Kaye, Gryff, and Polemic Heart is really something magical. It’s no surprise that some of these artists are going to show up later in this list. 

Listen to the song here.

5. Funk All Night Long (ft. Yasmina) by Zyodara

Remember what I said earlier about the heightened focus on funk and rhythmic expression in the scene? “Funk All Night Long” is what you get if you push that to a Solid Gold extreme. There’s groovy syncopation throughout the track, and impeccable control of space, and a restrained and soothing vocal performance that pulls listeners through the nearly 4 minute funky romantic bop. 

Listen to the song here.

4. Let’s Get Wild (ft. Dimi Kaye) by Yoru & Turbo Knight & Syst3m Glitch

Hello Yoru, Turbo Knight, and Dimi Kaye! It’s been a while (in a very dude-from-Staind voice)! Some of the folks from earlier in this list are joined by the excellent Syst3m Glitch and have crafted perhaps the most montage-worthy song from the scene this year. It has a vocal performance that’s unique and alternates between a standard delivery of catchy hooks and the occasional flair for the dramatic. The energy here is always at a high, and we’re all luckier because of it. 

Listen to the song here.

3. Sunset Strip by Veeshy & Phonic Youth

I’m going to level with you. I wasn’t really following Veeshy or Phonic Youth. When I first heard “Sunset Strip” about a month ago that changed. This song is dreamy in a way that most synthwave tracks aspire to, with a masterful control of automated effects and layering throughout. In a year that was notably strong with vocal-based tracks, “Sunset Strip” is still an absolute standout. 

Listen to the song here.

2. Reverse by Primo the Alien & Gryff

Sometimes I’ll listen to an artist who makes only instrumentals and fantasy cast vocalists for the artist. I almost always imagine Gryff, and with the quality of the tracks they’ve released this year, it’s easy to want Primo the Alien to be the voice on tracks as well. You can only imagine the enthusiasm with which I smashed that play button in August when “Reverse” came out, a collaboration between two of the best that the scene has to offer. The fact that the two powerhouses to share the spotlight on the track and never allow it to feel cluttered, and even make space for a crooning saxophone solo that will have you making that face that looks like you smelled something bad when you really just heard a saxophone lick that friggin’ rips. Urgh. Just seriously listen to this song if you haven’t yet. 

Listen to the song here.

1. Her Broken Smile (ft. Tessa Hedrick) by DEADLIFE

I like optimism in my synthwave. I think I’ve been pretty clear with that particular preference in this list. But do you want to know something I like even more? When an artist completely seems to throw out convention. “Her Broken Smile” has moments of hyperpop and glitch and industrial music sprinkled throughout, and it’s anchored by an absolutely showstopping vocal performance. It has just enough weird elements sonically and enough hooks that when it starts to veer into unconventional composition territory, you are completely hooked and need more. The subtleties and maximalism of the song makes it feel like music for the edge of the abyss. And what could be more appropriate for 2020. Hope you don’t disappear. 

Listen to the song here.

There’s a new sovereign in Thra and a new creative team at the helm of BOOM! Studio’s latest arc of

For as much as I bemoan Big Two comics for their wiki-over-purpose storytelling, it would be perhaps too generous to say that the Dark Crystal as a franchise is the most welcoming to new readers. Sure, you might remember broad strokes from the source material, but how much of that sweet, sweet lore do you have at the front of your mind? Henson’s worlds are so enormously inventive and lived-in that this lore is a bit of an albatross around the neck of comic continuations like this or the Labyrinth comics. There are exceptions: the Smith / Huntington run on Beneath the Dark Crystal laid out everything you needed to follow along early and was propelled with such an emotional depth to the character work that I’d recommend that book to any fantasy fans. But more often than not, they end up like the enjoyable but sometimes difficult to immediately pick-up prior two Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance arcs, even though the teams of Andelfinger / Balsa and Cesare / Carlomagno made very enjoyable books in the process. 

It’s refreshing, then, that Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance #9 feels more first-time-reader friendly, and more akin to the Smith / Huntington book than either of the latter. There’s certainly a substantial bit of lore at play, but this feels less like an anchor and more like traditional fantasy story worldbuilding. The book focuses on Mayrin, the recently ascended All-Maudra (think Queen / Empress). The prior sovereign, her mother, seems to have been respected even if we are given hints that she may not have been the kindest ruler. Mayrin finds herself overwhelmed by both the expectations she still feels beating down on her from her late mother and by the competing interests she must now juggle as a Muppet-adjacent head of state. One of the more pressing issues is that a seafaring gefling Sifan clan has been openly antagonistic to the new leadership. To win favor with this clan, Mayrin embarks on a voyage with Sifan Captain Kam’Lu. The leader of the Sifan’s, Fenth, in the meantime is making a potentially nefarious deal with the Skeksis. A large ocean monster attacks the ship and Mayrin saves Kam’Lu as the latter’s ship sinks below the depths. 

What’s particularly unique is that all of that plot summary really obfuscates just how whimsical the book feels at times. A lot of that is due to Erman’s grasp on character-centric writing, a consistent strength in his work. It’s tough to write characters so clearly earmarked to arc in terms of maturity and not make them insufferable. Mayrin’s character is a make-it-or-break-it element of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance #9. In a lot of ways, she is bratty at the comic’s onset, but the book makes it clear that while her outbursts might be self-centered, she isn’t selfish. While this story doesn’t at this point seem too concerned with interrogating the monarchy of Thra on a conceptual level in any noticeable extent, the amount of sympathy it generates for its protagonist, and interest it builds in learning more about what will likely be its secondary protagonist, is impressive. It will be interesting after the remaining three issues of this arc come out just how much of a connection you can draw between Erman and Migyeong’s creative input on a long running much-beloved franchise and Mayrin’s own feelings towards her inherited throne.

On the subject of Jo Migyeong, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how good this comic looks. While Migyeong’s scenes of crowds often feel spacious to a fault, the facial work on the closeups and the action shots give this comic a sense of emotion and urgency. A large amount of the sense of wonder in this book comes with Fabiana Mascolo’s work. There’s a use of blues and purples that, while aiding in the mysterious quality of the night time scenes, makes the daylight scenes seem alien, which is fitting given just how weird the Dark Crystal world really is. Readers are only offered a brief glimpse of a skeksis, but it’s enough to be excited to see them interact with this story.

It’s hard to recommend this to someone with zero familiarity with the source material, but if you enjoyed the movie, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance #9 is worth your time. Without relying too heavily on prior arcs or even the Netflix series, the issue is way more new-reader friendly than it has any right to be. It’s a visual treat with a non-stop focus on characterization in its storytelling.

While every country has been impacted in some capacity, there’s no denying that some have been or currently are being hit harder than others. “In my country it has had a great impact,” says Lleida, Spain based artist Nightcrawler. “It isn’t very productive musically because I can not go to the studio, but I am enjoying being with my son and my wife all day long in my house”. 

In addition to studio time being hindered, some artists, like Barcelona, Spain based SUNESIS, have felt the impact on live performances.”My last Live show was on 7th March, right before quarantine was imposed in Barcelona. I had another proposal for a live show for mid April /early May that had to be postponed,” she says. Adding that “Spain’s economy is suffering tremendously and my salary has been reduced. Social media was crowded with opinions and recommendations on how to experience confinement but I honestly feel this depends on the person.”Despite the hardship, she adds “I am feeling peaceful, hopeful, and introspective.”

Fellow Spanish artist Electric Runner echoes the sentiment of optimism in this trying time, stating that despite the “obvious and awful impact to the music scene with all the shows and tours canceled”, that they are trying to stay positive, noting that “this is the first time in a couple of years when I have all this time to work on my music, some days are better than others but I’m trying to get the most of this situation, I know it’s not easy for everyone and I don’t say that you are in an obligation to be productive but if you ever wanted to start something artistic this is the perfect time.”

The idea of making the best of a terrible situation isn’t an uncommon one in this time, and really that shouldn’t be a surprise coming from a scene with a fetishistic obsession of lost neon futures. Connecticut, USA-based STRAPLOCKED has a similar positive attitude, saying “So far, it’s given me a bit more time to work on my music. I spend less money going out, spend less time driving, and that has yielded stronger relationships with my fiance and our children, [as well as] more time for music and more time to work on projects around the house.” STRAPLOCKED also brings up a point I haven’t seen discussed much. Where you are at in your life is going to impact how easy or hard lockdown is for you. “I think if I was about 10 years younger, having to stay home would REALLY affect me negatively but at this point in my life the last 2 months have felt almost like a vacation. I can imagine that’s a wildly unpopular opinion but, it’s how I feel nonetheless.”

There’s a bittersweet undercurrent in the minds of some artists as well. For Iowa, USA’s SHIKIMO, the added time for productivity comes at a social cost. “I was able to finish up my new EP in the extra time I’ve had that I’m not spending with friends.” SHIKIMO, like many, are trying to stay positive by focusing on whatever the most recent positive news they have is, which for him has been appearing on Spotify’s official Retrowave/Outrun playlist. 

Despite the optimism, it’s important not to forget that the artists who we often interact with as neon avatars online are real people with real jobs and lives that have been impacted, all the more reason to lend them your support today. 

Artists who make their living from music and gigs are impacted as much as artists who are now working more than ever at day jobs to make ends meet. Miami, Florida’s INTEGRA-85 tells one such story. “I haven’t been able to play shows and the lockdown has dampened my ability to focus on writing music. I’ve had to focus almost on work just to make ends meet in a house where all my roommates just lost all their jobs.” This is unfortunately a common reality for many, including Russian-based CYBERTHING!. 

What’s perhaps most difficult for me as a member of the scene who has admittedly a minute impact on the scene or sales is that I really want to implore readers and listeners of NRW who have the means during this time to support as many of the artists listed below as they can. All of these artists deserve your attention, your streams, your album purchases.

I have a tremendous amount of gratitude to the artists in this scene and consider myself very lucky to write about their music. 

10. Von Kaiser – Glossy

After they started releasing music late last year, 2019 saw Von Kaiser improve with each release. The balance between atmosphere, melody, and groove on the four songs on Glossy are stellar. The multiple vocalists work well together and the longer track lengths never wear out their welcome.

https://vonkaiser.bandcamp.com/album/glossy

9. MoTER – Last Train to Synthville

Don’t let the hokey EP title fool you. Last Train to Synthville is one of those releases where it is immediately apparent that an excessive amount of care and consideration was put into each note and each production technique. There’s pretty melodies throughout and enough production flourishes to make this one of the more unique EPs of 2019.

https://moter.bandcamp.com/album/last-train-to-synthville

8. Magic Sword – Awakening

Magic Sword are a pretty unique musical presence in the scene, and that’s to say nothing of their aesthetics. With compositions that show them working more as a band than a lone guy behind a laptop, Awakening sees the group bringing in a more lighthearted vibe, but one which stays true to the highly cinematic and often funky nature of their songs.

https://magic-sword.bandcamp.com/album/awakening

7. Megan McDuffee – Barely Covered

A quick glance at Megan McDuffee’s credits section of her website makes it immediately apparent that she is one of the busiest artists in the scene. The fact that she created an EP as cool as Barely Covered in the midst of that is an even more impressive feat. The Siouxsie Sioux-esque crooning over songs that pairs well with the upbeat grooves and catchy melodies and real sinister streak under its tracks.

https://meganmcduffee.bandcamp.com/album/barely-covered

6. Straplocked & Turbo Knight – Electric Angel

2019 was the year of incredible collaborations, and one of the best was the trans-Atlantic pairing of Straplocked and Turbo Knight. From a sound design standpoint, few releases could touch this one. The synths and the impeccable mixing throughout the EP are strong on their own, let alone when they’re used on songs teeming with these cool retro-future vibes and lush leads.

https://straplocked.bandcamp.com/album/electric-angel

5. Duett – Version II

In a way, Duett’s Version I and Version II EPs have a unique advantage in that these are songs that Duett has had in their backlog for a decent amount of time. On the other hand, those EPs, and in particular Version II, are just some unbelievably well-crafted and produced pop songs. The three “Night Version” tracks are particularly strong.

https://duett.bandcamp.com/album/version-ii

4. Danny Madigan & Alpha Chrome Yayo – Grangeweird

What can be said about Grangeweird that wasn’t said in our review? Well, months removed from Halloween, it still winds up being one of the EPs most warranting revisiting. It’s fun and catchy, and filled with well-constructed songs beginning to end.

https://alphachromeyayo.bandcamp.com/album/grangeweird

3. Hotel Pools – Pacific

This one is a later release of the year, but Pacific is an incredibly strong EP for Hotel Pools to end the year on. It’s synthwave-meets-chillwave approach which channels the likes of Com Truise and Tycho still creates something fresh and unique. This EP is hard to put down. You’ll find yourself listening to it on repeat.

https://hotelpoolsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pacific

2. Moonraccoon & Gryff – Ride

What do you get when you combine one of the best melodic producers in the scene with one of the best vocalists in the scene? One of the definitive releases of 2019. With “Ride”, a high-energy instant classic, “Promises”, a new wave ballad, and a Rocky IV soundtrack cover song, this EP immediately sticks with you. Check out our full review here.

https://moonraccoon.bandcamp.com/album/ride

1. Power Glove – Throwback

Power Glove could just release the same EP and it would still be one of the best and freshest releases of the year. The Australian producers catalog shows evolution, and Throwback is their best work to date, and represents some of the best that the scene can offer. It’s cinematic and epic in a way that other releases aspire to, and is the kind of release that could kick-start someone’s desire to make music in this wonderful synthwave genre.

https://powergloveaudio.bandcamp.com/album/throwback

10. Fallen World (Valiant Comics)

It doesn’t take long into one’s journey through the criminally underappreciated Valiant universe to notice the parallels between Rai, the mainstay of Valiant’s future timeline, and Bloodshot, the popular character with an upcoming feature length-film. Fallen World could have been a simple conflict story between the two characters, but the way that it weaves in characters like the Geomancer and War Mother, and the delicate attention that writer Dan Abnett gives to the world of the story elevates it significantly.

9. Usagi Yojimbo (IDW Comics)

If you listen to the NewRetroWave comic book podcast, you know that the IDW relaunch of Stan Sakai’s longrunning series is a monthly favorite. It knows exactly what it wants to be and executes its stories well along those lines. It may not always have the loftiest ambitions in terms of art or storytelling, but at the end of the day being able to tell a compelling story with a compelling lead for over two decades is a greater ambition than most books and creators can hope for. The relaunch has been one of the most consistent and entertaining books of the year.

8. Sonata (Image Comics)

When I read Monstress for the first time I was overwhelmed by the world within its pages in a way that I hadn’t by other comics before. The first comic to captivate me with its world since has been Image Comics’ Sonata. While this comic could have sat comfortably on the creativity of its world and the strength in the art depicting that world, it ramped up significantly by making a level of intrigue between its characters that each issue has been hard to put down.

7. Ruby Falls (Dark Horse Comics)

Another title that shouldn’t be a surprise to NRW Comic Podcast listeners. Series writer Ann Nocenti shows her considerable skill at both characterization and strong thematic storytelling in equal measure with this mini-series. All of the characters in this story are memorable and likable, but Lana is one of the most relatable protagonists of 2019. She manages to have obvious and apparant flaws that the readers are usually able to find in some measure within themselves, and to see her attempt to solve the mystery of a decades-old murder in a town that seems stuck in the past makes for some great reading.

6. Blossoms 666 (Archie Comics)

If there was ever a time to strike while the iron is hot for Archie Comics, and for the Archie Horror imprint in particular, its 2019. With outstanding art and a killer story from Cullen Bunn, Blossoms 666 delivered up devilish fun in 2019 with its story of Jason and Cheryl (and even a mystery third Blossom heir) and their quests to become Riverdale’s own Anti-Christ. The Archie Horror imprint has some of the best comics of the past decade at their helm, and Blossoms 666 is right at home.

5. The Plot (Vault Comics)

Oh look, another book raved about on NRW’s Comic Book Podcast. (Please listen to it) The Plot managed to be not just the best book from a publisher who drastically has delivered quality titles for the past two years, but one of the five best books of the year. Its gothic sensibilities married to its 70;s horror aesthetic makes this easily the most atmospheric book of the year. It might be wrapping up it’s initial run now, but this is going to be the kind of trade paperback that people who don’t typically like comics are going to love.

4. Ascender (Image Comics)

The Jeff Lemire-written and Dustin Nguyen-drawn series Descender was consistently one of the best books on shelves during its 32 issue run starting in 2015. How could the team follow such a beloved, original, and stylish sci-fi series? By bringing several of the series’ beloved characters into an equally original and stylish sequel, but one which shifts genres toward fantasy. The results are compelling in a way that few books are, and the unique identity between the original and sequel manage to be significant while not feeling wholly disjointed.

3. Going to the Chapel (Action Lab Comics)

Another favorite here at NRW. As you could tell from our review of the debut issue, this comic started with a bang. If you listened to the recent NRW Comic Podcast interview with Going to the Chapel writer David Pepose, then you know that the series has maintained that level of energy and has spent four issues endearing readers to its robust cast of characters. Balancing something as intense as a hostage situation with jokes and levity is no easy task, but Pepose and the art team of artist Gavin Guidry and colorist Elizabeth Kramer deliver.

2. Excellence (Image Comics)

Has there ever been a book so perfectly titled? Writer Brandon Thomas and artist Khary Randolph deliver a world that is as fascinating as it is thematically rich. Main character Spencer Dale navigates a world where he experiences pressures from his society and his family, and his conflicts in this world get heightened with artist Khary Randolph’s incredibly fluid and stylish panels. Colorist Emilio Lopez rounds out the team and makes this book one of the most can’t-miss titles of 2019, and of all the titles on this list, this is the one that feels most likely to jump to other mediums.

1. House of X / Powers of X (Marvel Comics)

For a publisher that’s pretty egregious with their use of large-scale events, House of X and Powers of X is the first time in my life as a reader that a comic story has lived up to the name ‘event’. There really is no writer better suited to injecting the X line up with new energy and new ideas than Jonathan Hickman, and this two-as-one series showed exactly why. These books were electric with an energy rarely found, and following each book was the mountain of discourse from the rabid X-fan community who seemed to finally all agree that something huge was here for their favorite heroes. Whether Hickman’s relaunch lives up to this hype remains to be seen, but HoXPoX is some of the best that this medium can produce.

Here are the show notes for NRW’s comic book podcast Episode 2.

Listen to the show here: https://soundcloud.com/nrwcomics/ep-2-usagi-yojimbo-7-ruby-falls-3-x-men-3-the-misplaced-1-touching-evil-1

Usagi Yojimbo #7

Written, Drawn, and Lettered by Stan Sakai

Colored by Tom Luth

Full Disclosure. I knew pretty much nothing about Stan Sukai’s long running series of the bunny ronin aside from the sometimes cute, sometimes adorably intense covers I would see of a rabbit swordsman fighting all manner of furry anthropomorphic opponents. While its stories might not always be the most intricate, and its art might not always be the most elegant, the weeks where I get a new book in my hands are some of my most enjoyable as a comics reader. This one works on two levels. The first is a gag of Usagi, the rhino Gen, and a dogman friend fighting off bandits to retrieve some stolen swords. A bandit that they let live each time ends up coming back with more men, only for them to be defeated and the lone bandit to be spared to run off and repeat the process. Sakai isn’t really interested in exploring notions of mercy here — because yikes if he was — but the bit works well enough as a gag even if it gets a little repetitive by the end. It turns out the swordsmen were conned by a character with an apparent history with Usagi named Kitsune. Despite this story feeling like a one shot, it’s nice to see it setting up the next issue. 

Rating: 3.5 / 5  

Ruby Falls #3

Written by Ann Nocenti

Drawn by Flavia Biondi

Colored by Lee Loughridge

Lettered by Sal Cipriano

While mini-series are undoubtedly my favorite kind of story that comics can tell — their clearly defined end points covering up a lot of the shortcomings that ongoing series fall into — there is always a midpoint that has a little bit of a slump. While Ruby Falls is still one of the best series on shelves today, the third issue represents something of a stalling point before what is likely to be a dramatic conclusion. Lana is still investigating the murder of a woman decades ago while her grandmother is also missing. This issue confronts the morality or usefulness of punishing the very old and near death for heinous actions of their youth. The man who murdered the woman being put away for life while he’s in his nineties means something very different than if he were punished in his thirties. The comic clearly eres on the side that he should receive punishment for his actions, but the fact that he hasn’t for so long, and that the complacency of the town and the deep rooted misogyny of everyone involved in the murder makes this tragic. Betty deserves justice for what happened to her, but the time since the crime makes both the investigation and potential punishment much more difficult than it would be before hand. That is all the obviously interesting stuff going on here, but it just is a little slow in the pacing. 

Rating: 3 / 5  

X-Men #3

Written by Jonathan Hickman

Drawn by Leinil Francis Yu

Inks by Getty Alanguilan and Leinil Francis Yu

Colors by Sunny Gho and Rain Beredo

Lettered by Clayton Cowles

I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. It is reasonable to assume that the flagship title, the most must-read issue of the X-Men relaunch is the most straightforwardly titled. Unfortunately, X-Men #3 was a slog to get through. And while the elderly eco-terrorists with a botanical focus — Hordeculture — are an interesting idea on paper, Hickman’s obsession with banter and general weakness in that department just makes it a chore to get through. His ideas and concepts are solid, and I was really excited for some sort of continuity from the previous issue, but nope. At least Leinil Francis Yu is still one of the best artists around. 

Rating: 1.5 / 5  

The Misplaced #1

Everything by Chris Callahan

The afterlife is something so abstracted that depictions of it in media always seem like nothing more than a wild guess — a depiction. The surreal bend on Callahan’s art, the ambiguity and gravitas in his story, and the intense light and shadowing work make this seem like a proper look at what life after death could possibly be. Our main character doesn’t know why his wife, whom died with him in a shipwreck, isn’t in the afterlife with him. Before dying, he saw an image of a house and her telling him to find her. The final pages reveal that she was captured in some sort of Victorian device. Turn of the century spiritualism is a really fun aesthetic, and combining it with one of the most original books I’ve read in a while has me unbelievably excited for this series.

And holy smokes, that cover is beautiful. 

Rating: 4.5 / 5  

Touching Evil #1

Written, Drawn, and Lettered by Dan Dougherty

Inked by Wesley Wong and Dan Dougherty

Colored by Wesley Wong

Color Assists by Sheila Johnson

Touching Evil made me do a complete 180 by the end of the issue. It opens like a run-of-the-mill indie comic that feels like it’s trying to be prestige television in panel form, and then feels briefly like it might be a rip-off of The Green Mile. A successful lawyer goes to visit the first client that her father, a lawyer as well, unsuccessfully defended. Perspective switches to the prison we find out that there is an inmate that cannot die and can kill them simply by touching them. It starts to get interesting when we find out what happens to the inmates he touches. They exist in a broken plane inside his pupils. This inmate is the one that the protagonist goes to see. The inmate chooses her to pass along this curse to, and the comic ends with her surviving an attempted shooting. So yeah, that ending makes the story that seemed at first glance to be ordinary into something unique. I find myself excited for what comes next and happy to have taken a chance on this. 

Rating: 3 / 5  

Writer of the Episode: Chris Callahan (The Misplaced #1)

Artist of the Episode: Chris Callahan (The Misplaced #1)

Colorist of the Episode: Sunny Gho and Rain Beredo (X-Men #3)

Reminder that scores are obviously subjective. General guideline of what each score means below.

1 = Poor

2 = Okay

3 = Good 

4 = Great

5 = Amazing

NewRetroWave’s Comic Book Editor just launched the first episode of NRW’s Comic Podcast. You can listen to the episode at the link below and read an abridged version of our editors thoughts here!

The Plot #3

The Plot has been one of the most pleasant surprises as a horror comic fan in late 2019. Written by Tim Daniel and Michael Moreci and drawn by Joshua Hixson, The Plot marries the aesthetics of 70’s horror with an intense gothic atmosphere and surreal sense of dread and tension. The truth of the family at the center of the comic slowly becomes unveiled, revealing a dark secret that has been looming over the family for generations. Dialogue and scenery itself add to the tone of this stand out book as you find yourself returning to a line one of the people in the town say midway through the comic in regards to the central family. 

Everything they touch turns to gold. Everyone they touch turns to ash. 

Ruby Falls #2

While Ruby Falls writer Ann Nocenti tends to be known for a certain kind of headiness in her writing — this is, after all, the same writer who made direct Noam Chomsky references in a Marvel book, and her recent title The Seeds is similarly steeped in critical theory — Ruby Falls has spent two issues dialing the scale back and giving readers an intimate view of a small town and a protagonist that feels relatable in both her strengths and flaws. Interestingly, with the second issue it becomes clear that those themes of media, and particularly, the framing and representation of media, are just as alive in Ruby Falls. 

X-Men #2

Following the assassination of Professor X, itself an odd choice to happen in X-Force and not the main book, but hey I guess that pushes more titles., Hickman continues to embrace the emphatically weird angles of mutant storylines. Krakoa is moving towards another island that has mysteriously appeared and the world’s strangest father-children trio of Scott, Nathan, and Rachel Summers are all tasked with visiting that island and seeing what’s going on. When their, they have a very contrived fight with the High Summoner before the two islands merge in a pseudo-sexual framing. 

Hickman is so very good at so many things, but one thing his X-books have revealed is that dialogue that is not for the purpose of exposition or the grand opera of something like Moira McTaggart meeting Charles Xavier in each of her lives is one of his week points. The casual dialogue between the Summers clan could be rearranged to give the lines to different characters and absolutely nothing about the scene would change. There’s some indicators, sure, like “son” being used by Cyclops, but there a certain artificiality to the banter that holds the book back, if only because its so weak in comparison to the more outlandish material that Hickman excels at. For the first time since Hickman took over, the art has surpassed the writing. Leinil Francis Yu’s art, particularly during the Summers interactions with the High Summoner, is some of the most memorable panels in a year full of memorable scenes from major and independent books. 

Music doesn’t have to take itself super seriously to be seriously good. Grangeweird, the latest split EP from Belfast synth warlocks Alpha Chrome Yayo and Danny Madigan is infectious for a multitude of reasons. While the melodies and production deserve mention, there is an undeniable sense that the artists involved had a blast making this release, and the listener is immediately transported to that space of something a little spooky, a little unusual, and a lot of fun. If ever there was a soundtrack for an Elvira revival, Grangeweird is it. Someone call the fine folks over at Shudder. 

Grangeweird sees Danny Madigan and Alpha Chrome Yayo trading tracks.

Danny Madigan handles the first and third. He opens the EP with “Autumnal Equinox”, setting the stage for the horror-soundtrack-inspired tracks that follow. After getting comfortable with the march of the rhythm in the song, a voice over narrative kicks in. The concept of the album is laid out in simple terms and not relegated solely to Bandcamp description spaces. Classic chorus-drenched goth guitar and bass follow, and when they blend with the melodic synths of the opening the whole song crescendos spectacularly. “The Binding” is the other Danny Madigan solo track on Grangeweird. This is much more vocal-focused than the opener, and its lyrics strike a delicate balance of well-written and campy. The goth rock influences again fill the track and make it a highlight of the release.

Not to be outdone, Alpha Chrome Yayo delivers tracks 2 and 4 of Grangeweird. With the second track, “Mindlocked Messenger”, no time is wasted delivering the funky melodies and groove-laden rhythms that ACY is so synonymous with. Two minutes in he throws a rhythmic curveball and the whole song starts to feel different and more cinematic. “Leylines” shows Alpha Chrome Yayo unconventionally mixing some serene electronic piano sounds with some more abrasive lo-fi chiptune elements. There’s a lot going on in this song, with switching in and out of double time, its fidelity mixing, its haunting synths, and its endless supply of catchy keyboard passages, it’ll stick around in listener’s minds.

The album closes with Eleusinian Mysteries, a collaborative track between both artists that sees both of their idiosyncrasies share the spotlight. It’s filled with vocals, groovy synths, moody guitar, and evolving beats. 

Grangeweird is the perfect EP for the upcoming spooky season, but don’t be fooled. You’re going to be listening to this well after October 31. Two very unique artists collide on this EP and leave readers with an EP that doesn’t sound like anything else out there. And one which is a strong contender for the most memorable of the year. 

Grangeweird by Danny Madigan, Alpha Chrome Yayo

Danny Madigan’s Twitter

Alpha Chrome Yayo’s Twitter

Ain’t Love Grand?

Or at least it could be for Jesse Moore, the architect engaged to heiress Emily Anderson, the main protagonist of Going to the Chapel. The comic, written by Spencer & Locke writer David Pepose, drawn by Gavin Guidry, and colored by Liz Kramer blends heist tropes with a cold-footed wedding to create something that feels fresh from the first couple pages. 

Going to the Chapel is more grounded than Pepose’s prior work Spencer & Locke 1 & 2, of which the second collection is now available for purchase. It would be easy to call this lighter than that book, but that isn’t entirely fair. Sure, there’s no explicit history child abuse or police violence (yet), but the threat and fear for both the wedding guests from the robbers is palpable. That isn’t even mentioning the fear the robbers have from authorities. This is a comic that wastes no time in establishing its characters and its stakes. While Pepose’s writing is characteristically strong at immediately grounding Emily and her fiance Jesse as relatable and distinct characters, Gavin Guidry’s art marries story to visuals. 

Emily is introduced completely alone,and while that framing emphasizes her feelings of not wanting to get married, the facial depiction shows her as earnest and sincere in her emotions. Jesse, by contrast, is also introduced alone,  but his panel is filled with other characters. He isn’t as lonely, and this is reflected in the character work by him being less apprehensive about his upcoming wedding. His face is telling as well. Unlike the more upfront reading of Emily’s anxiety, Jesse has a smile that looks more like an affect. While the full extent of his dynamic with Emily isn’t revealed in Going to the Chapel #1, it wouldn’t surprise me if things are not always copacetic.

After all, who goes to a bar an hour before their wedding? 

Readers jump from Emily and her dysfunctional family at the chapel and Jesse drinking with his groom party at a local bar. Jesse meets a friendly stranger named Tom and the two share drinks. When the comic catches up with its in medias res opening, the Bad Elvis Gang, some robbers in Elvis masks, interrupts the pending nuptials. The leader of the gang takes Emily to a secluded room to steal her priceless necklace. There it is revealed that he is Tom, the stranger that Jesse met at the bar. And not just that, but that he and Emily used to be together. 

It would have been too easy to make this black and white. A lesser comic would make Jesse a jerk and Tom a completely charming rogue. Pepose does such a good job in endearing readers to his characters, that we don’t see anything particularly wrong with Jesse, and Tom hitting him with the butt of his gun further engages the reader’s sympathy while clueing us to the idea that, despite the generally lighthearted tone of the comic, Tom is a dangerous individual. If wedding nerves are often the result of reality in conflict with an ideal, it’s interesting to see this mirrored in a microcosm when Tom hijacks the wedding. 

As mentioned, the art is terrific throughout. While Guidry is clearly skilled at conveying emotion through character facials and body language, there’s also an incredible flow throughout the panels. Readers are never stuck with a particular angle or perspective for too long, but never whipped around to the extent that anything feels jarring. The panel compositions are solid. Colorist Liz Kramer likewise strikes a balance between variations for interest and consistency for identity. The entire comic has a real preference towards purples, browns, and blues, and those colors look fantastic whenever they appear on-panel. 

Going to the Chapel #1 is strong debut issue of a series that will immediately endear readers to it. This comic is full of characters that live and breathe in a way that most comics wish they would, and its balance of characters you want to follow and a plot that zips around at an exciting pace makes it a hard one to pass up. 

Parallels opens with “Regulus”, a track that is distinct in the way that it tames the grit of the main synth into something melodic and beautiful. There is a tone that permeates the track, and to an extent the album as a whole, of the unknown. That mood is perhaps strongest in this opener. A little over a minute in the mood changes a little when the snare comes in like a bomb. Not long after, the entire track becomes more upbeat and that’s where the melody and grooves show the listener what they can expect from the rest of the album.

“I’m the Law” follows, with a unique opening that builds tension. Just when you expect something aggressive to come from it, it opts for something groovy instead. This is in stark contrast to “Between Good and Evil”, easily the most straightforwardly film-score esque track of the bunch. Earmake’s music has been featured on an HBO show previously, and it is hard to believe that will be the last time it pops up in other media. The dynamic tendency where songs don’t always end up where you expect and transform from the beginning is what makes Earmake so distinct, and this track is the best example of that.

The next track, “City Motion” the most unique on the album. Amid a bouncing bass synth is some minimal drum work and vaguely acoustic sounding keys. None of these elements conflict with each other. It would seem on paper that those disparate components wouldn’t work, but Earmake’s mixing and mastering make everything seamless.

The late-album stretch of “Omega”, “The Abyss”, and “Avalanche” is strikingly consistent in quality but varied in execution. “Omega” is similar to “City Motion” in terms of having very distinct drums, but it stands out with the excellent guitar work from Denis Cherryman from BlazerJacket. “The Abyss” clocks in at nearly 7 minutes and is the longest song on the album. It never overstays its welcome, as it spends every second building atmosphere. The entire song is heavy on the emotion despite the minimal composition. “Avalanche” again sees Earmake transforming a track throughout a few short minutes. The upbeat final minute or so of the song is the best part of the entire album.

The album concludes with the sprawling “Sensual (Vapor)”. It has a lot of the perks of “The Abyss”, but executed with less of a focus on minimalism. In its place is probably the moodiest, most atmosphere-heavy song since the opener. Overall, neither the album nor any individual track drags. There’s a real crispness throughout this, and a sense that nothing is wasted. Earmake was obviously on the rise prior to Parallels, but following an album this impressive, it’s hard to imagine that won’t continue.

If you like this album and would like to find out more about Earmake, check out our interview with him here!

NRW: What got you interested in making music in the first place? Did you always make synthwave?

Earmake: My process of becoming a musician began thanks to a Swedish DJ and musician Basshunter (Jonas Altberg). I loved the genre of music like Dancecore and Hands-Up, and sub-genre branches. I listened to artists such as Manian, Dj Splash, Cascada, Dj Gollum, Italobrothers, and so on. Once I heard the music of Basshunter, and came across a YouTube video of how Jonas was making this music. When I like a certain film or artist, I go to Wikipedia and read about it. In the biography of Basshunter, I read that this is an ordinary guy who played Dota and wrote music in FL Studio, and now (at that time) already has a contract with Warner Music. I decided to try, downloaded the program, and repeated (like many home producers). In general, my father was a DJ and collected imported music (Italo Disco). By the way, this music was quite difficult to get in the USSR. So probably my childhood was associated with music. I discovered Synthwave very funny. I don’t remember exactly if I heard this genre of music before I came across it. I will ask a counter question to all old school lovers: where did you hear Nightcall? I am sure that almost everyone will answer “in the movie “Drive”. But I heard this track in the Gameloft mobile game Gangstar Vegas. (yes, I still have not watched Drive, and I will not do it). There are radio stations, I was driving a car and playing Kavinsky. I was surprised that there was a very strange vocal, got into Google, read the artist’s biography, and then listened to his other works. His music, his visual style, his style of clothes won me over. Then I started slowly, no – very quickly, to enter this culture.

NRW: Who are you biggest musical influences?

Earmake: Like many people, my tastes depended on the time in which a particular genre was popular. I went through Russian rap, through punk rock, through eurodance. All this (fortunately) is over. I listened to this as a teenager. As I said earlier, the first artist that inspired me is Basshunter. Then – Kavinsky. I love the visual style of Outrun music, but I never tried to write it, and did not want to. I am romantic. I like cinematic music, space music, dreamwave music.I really like the ambient and Berlin school music. I was most influenced by Tangerine Dream, Global Communication, Stellardrone and Carbon Based Lifeforms. I am also very inspired by the work of  Dynatron, with which we have a collaboration, by the way.

NRW: Your music is described as “cosmic”. Do you intentionally write with that kind of vibe in mind?

Earmake: No. This is a state of mind. I am romantic and in love with space ambient, sci-fi music and dreamwave. The combination of these worlds has borne myself. I don’t always write cosmic music. But I always want to write it. Sometimes I can start doing for example Dreamwave, but it turns out Space. Perhaps this is my vocation.

NRW: I saw a video on Instagram of you jamming on an Alesis MIDI Controller. Do all of your songs start off as jams? What’s your writing process like?

Earmake: I very rarely finish my jams. I usually write them down for Instagram. Sometimes it happens that they give birth to full-fledged compositions. Like for example with “Sensual” track. By the way, I’m flattered that The Midnight really liked this track. When I first started writing music, I had a lot of enthusiasm, inspiration. I have the track “Nightly Flights”( https://soundcloud.com/earmake/the-nightly-flights)  from the album “WANA” which was released on Future City Records. By the way, this track played in the eighth episode of the second season of the series from HBO – Vice Principals(https://vk.com/video-48154466_456239046).

So this is how I wrote this track: I went out at night, looked at the stars, felt the cool breeze of the wind, returned home and wrote a demo. The second night I finished this track. Enthusiasm, zeal, inspiration. I never know in advance what happened at the end. I can be inspired by nature and orders, as well as references of other artists.

NRW: What is your current recording set-up?

Earmake: Haha. Don’t laugh but I even don’t have my own laptop. All I have is a Midi Controller Alesis QX 25 and my PC at home. No analog synths, no soundcard.

NRW: A lot of musicians/producers have certain production techniques that they are fond of using multiple times. What is your favorite production technique?

Earmake: First of all – I do not like to use ready-made loop samples. Secondly, I still have not made my own library of my own sounds, I have not saved my own presets. Every time I write a new track, I wind up the sound in a new way. Sometimes I go into old projects, of which I want a certain sound, and repeat it from there. This is a laborious process, but I’m used to it.

NRW: What was it like to compose the music to the mobile games Lowriders Comeback 2, Wild Contest, and others?

Earmake:  I am not proud of Wild Contest as the game was canceled, and track for Lowriders was not added to the game because of delays in development. Other soundtracks I’ve done were for PC games Battle On the Moon and  Neon Glide. In the first one, I created my best darksynth track called “Hyperion”. Great experience.

NRW: It’s the dream of a lot of artists in the scene to have their music featured in a film or television series. What was it like to have a track of yours on an episode of Vice Principals?

Earmake: I was in a pleasant shock. I did not even know that my track was used there. A fan from Serbia (I don’t remember exactly where it came from), wrote me and thanked for the cool music on the show. I asked, “Which episode?”  Then I saw and it was nice. Especially nice, as they did the simultaneous clap from my track under the claps of the actor.

NRW: I know you have an album that just dropped, but are you currently working on any other projects? What does the future hold for Earmake?

Earmake: I now have two collaboration tracks with top artists from Russia in the Psybient genre. We are planning to release these works in a single Ep on Microcosmos Records. It will be a new part of me, in a new genre, but under the same name. I brought our retrowave to their ambient. I am also writing a psytrance track. There are no plans in the Synthwave scene yet. I will enjoy the result of work and release on NRW.

NRW: If you could collaborate with any artist right now, who would it be?

Earmake: I guess I want more collabs with Dynatron. We have the same atmosphere in our works and same tastes of Sci-Fi music. Also I want to collaborate with Nina (it was almost done but we canceled it) and Le Cassette. They are my favorite voices in synth scene. Andy Fox – because for me he’s  the best Italo project in Synthwave. I love his groove. If we talking about my idols, I want to make work with Carbon Based Lifeforms, Stellardrone.

NRW: Which Earmake song are you most proud of?

Earmake: The Mystery of Betelgeuse, Last Hope, I’m the Law, Hyperion, and remix of Tangerine Dream.

NRW: You’ve been active with live gigs in the past year. What’s the electronic music scene like in Ukraine?

Earmake: There is a lot o  Techno music here. But anyway there is a lot who like synthwave music. We need to improve our synth scene. Now it is just an underground music, because synthwave music is for 80s lovers, not for the masses.

NRW: What’s one last thing you’d like our readers to know about Earmake?

Earmake: Every listener is valuable to me. Every supporter is important to me. It adds strength to continue to engage in creativity. I do not know how long I will stay in Synthwave, but damn I do not want to leave this genre. I want to improve my skills, make people dream with my music. When you see a positive result of your work, it inspires you to even greater gains of heights. Thanks to everyone who listen to me. I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful genre of music.