annie wu

Check out the best artists of 2016, including our critics’ picks and the artists you voted the runner up and winner in this category!

What may go down as one of the worst years in recent memory is slowly crawling to a close, and while we wish it good riddance and hope against hope that 2017 will be an improvement, there is some small solace in looking back over the year that's passed and figuring out what stuff from it was the best. That's right, it's "Best of..." list time, and today we're taking a look at the Best DC Covers of 2016.

I love music, and I often find myself thinking about how it relates to comics; which characters would listen to which artists, and so forth. But what's the best way to get around the medium's limitations when it comes to stories about music and musicians? It's a question that's especially relevant to some of my favorite recent titles. The classic way to visualize music in comics is just to put the lyrics in a word balloon with some musical notes scattered around to convey singing. I’m going to be honest; I hate this approach, and in this day and age, I’m sure I’m not the only one. I find it impossible to read the lyrics as a song instead of a tuneless poem. There are better ways, as seen in books like Jem And The Holograms and Black Canary.

Jade Street Protection Services is an upcoming new series from Black Mask Studios that's billed as a mash-up between The Breakfast Club and Sailor Moon; the story of the delinquent students at an elite private school for magical girls. The release of the neon-pink-tinged cover by artist Annie Wu on social media was enough to create a surge of excitement --- What is it? Who is it? When is it? --- so we caught up with the creative team of newcomers Katy Rex and Fabian Lelay to find out more. The team also shared a preview of June's issue #1!

In its latest step towards cultural domination, Archie Comics has teamed up with Chicago-based designer clothing website Threadless for a fashion line featuring and inspired by "America's New Teen-Age Boyfriend" and his pals.

Welcome to Cast Party, the feature that imagines a world with even more live action comic book adaptations than we currently have, and comes up with arguably the best casting suggestions you’re ever going to find for the movies and shows we wish could exist. This week we're departing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, to imagine a whole new Hawkeye. I've said it before, and I'm far from the only one: A Netflix series based on the Hawkeye book by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Annie Wu (and Javier Pulido and a few other artists) would be amazing. But Marvel can't make it in their shared universe, because Jeremy Renner's probably not up for it (and he's wrong for this version of the character anyway), and because movie Hawkeye is a family man who lives in the country, not a New York loser who'd go to war over an apartment building.

With DC Rebirth comes a new take on the Birds of Prey, specifically Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, written by Julie and Shawna Benson with art by Claire Roe, and along with that comes some new costume designs. While Batgirl seems to be keeping the same basic costume she's worn since moving to Burnside (though it looks different when drawn by different artists), her new teammates, Huntress and Black Canary, have new looks designed by series cover artist Yanick Paquette. But what do these new looks tell us about the characters and the series, and how do they compare to the characters' previous looks?

Welcome to Cast Party, the feature that imagines a world with even more live action comic book adaptations than we currently have, and comes up with arguably the best casting suggestions you’re ever going to find for the movies and shows we wish could exist. This week I'm finally following through on a promise I made in the very first Cast Party, and envisioning a Black Canary movie.

To say that last year's reboot was a success for Archie comics might be underselling things a little. Not only was it a surprising move that grabbed headlines right from the first announcement --- and ended Archie's reign as the longest-running American monthly comic that hadn't been rebooted, at 666 issues (an honor that has now passed to another Archie title, Sonic the Hedgehog) --- but the stories themselves were a breath of fresh air that showed exactly how to twist these familiar characters to get a whole new wave of drama out of them. With that first arc set to be released in paperback soon, ComicsAlliance talked to writer Mark Waid about the difficulties of rebooting characters whose major appeal was their timelessness, why Jughead had the biggest changes (and the most murderous impulses), and whether or not we'll ever see Jingles the Christmas Elf again. Spoiler warning, but it's not lookin' good for ol' Jingles.

Our judges have adjudicated; our readers have voted. We’re proud to present to you the best character redesign of 2015 — and four great runners up.