The Best and Worst in Comics for 2008

[iSteve]

Since the New Year is almost upon us, it's time for a little reflection on the year that was 2008. What, in your opinion, constituted the best and/or the worst in the world of comics for the last twelve months? What was the notable storyline or story arc of the year? Is there a single issue that stands out? Whose artwork comes to mind? You get the drift. Share what you think was the outstanding (or not) thing that happened in comics for the year.

[cam-]

Uh oh Steve...you've done it now ;)

Post after post complaining about SI...

[iSteve]

Uh oh Steve...you've done it now ;)

Post after post complaining about SI...

And don't forget that awful mess called Final Crisis. Yes, I know I've done it. :D

Let me get the ball rolling, I nominate New Krypton as the best cross-over event of the year. It really is the best Superman story in years. And the implications for future stories are staggering. 100,000 Kryptonians on Earth. Oh the wonderful complications this promises.

[optimus187prime]

Biggest Surprise:
Locke and Key

Best Art:
Steve McNiven
Old Man Logan

Most Fun:
Deadpool

Best Ongoing:
Walking Dead

[mrmister]

Best Story Arc: Action Comics 'Brainiac'

Best Ongoing: Scalped

Best Single Issue: All Star Superman #10

Biggest Disappointment: Secret Invasion

Best New Series: Invincible Iron Man [despite the artwork]

Best Writer: Grant Morrison

Best Artist: Gary Frank

Books I need to start reading: Thor and Secret Six

[labor_days]

Best Single Issue
All Star Superman #10, Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely

Best Ongoing
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Joss Whedon, Drew Goodard, Brian K. Vaughan & Georges Jeantry

Best New Series
Atomic Robo, Brian Clevinger & Scott Wegener

Best Returning Series
Madman Atomic Comics, Mike Allred

Best Story Arc
The Black Glove, Grant Morrison & JH Williams III

Best Event Series
Final Crisis, Grant Morrison & JG Jones, Carlos Pacheco

Best Limited Series
Marvel 1985, Mark Millar & Tommy Lee Edwards

Best Artist
TIE: Lenil Francis Yu, New Avengers & Secret Invasion and Gary Frank, Action Comics

Best Cover Artist
Jo Chen, Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8

Best Writer
Geoff Johns

[labor_days]

Best iFanboy User Review
John42 (http://www.ifanboy.com/users/John42), All Star Superman #10
(http://www.ifanboy.com/reviews/John42/dc_comics/all_star_superman/10)

Conor said this book feels “transcendent.” I think that’s a perfect term, and here’s why:

In the other Superman books, for better or worse, he feels like a character. In All-Star, he feels like an Icon. Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek address his psychology. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely address his meaning in cultural mythology.

And this is the meaning they find: Superman is the best. He is the best we can be, he sees the best we can be, he sees the best we are. The book feels transcendent because it’s about transcendence, about becoming better.

Sometimes I feel like ‘dark’ has become synonymous with ‘good’. When I say a work of art “was really dark,” I usually mean it as a compliment. And there’s a lot of dark art out there. Look at 2007 top-10 movie lists. They’re full of examples of humanity at its worst. But hey! We live in dark times, what with war and recession and maybe depression. Art naturally reflects that. But when the worst of humanity is easy to find, that makes art which finds the best in humanity all the more valuable. It’s harder to do, too. Bright, hopeful stuff can very easily come across as saccharine and phony. Morrison and Quitely pull it off.

There’s so much meaning in All Star Superman #10 that it’s easy to miss. Comics are such a weekly, transitory medium that books which reward long, deep, re-reading are at a disadvantage. All-Star is similar to Astonishing X-Men in that Morrison and Whedon are both usually verbose writers producing sparse dialogue. In both cases, I think the writers feel such respect for their subject matter that they feel a responsibility for efficiency, to pack the most amount of meaning in the least amount of words. All-Star #10 certainly does that.

Lois’s introduction is a prime example. Here, Morrison and Quitely pull of a neat post-modern trick, accessing familiar concepts to tell a whole story in a page. Like Leonard Cohen says, “Everybody Knows” this story: Lois gets caught, Superman saves her. Therefore, it can be told in 4 panels and 3 words (“Lois?!?!” “Don’t Ask”). This recalls the origin retelling at the beginning of All Star #1, which was like the 4-count before an impossibly majestic Ramones song: ‘Doomed Planet1/Desperate Scientists2/Last Hope3/Kindly Couple4’ DOUBLE- PAGE SUN SPLASH!. The next page continues that rhythm, combining words and images to produce perfect motion in a static medium (“I am the true man of steel… Do your worst!” BOOM!)

The following conversation with Lois gets to the transcendence theme, elevating her archetype to a new level. The damsel-in-distress story- the purest example of the patriarchal narrative (active male subject/passive female object) is turned on its head.

We find out she deliberately got herself captured. He was avoiding her; she found a way to make him talk to her. The traditionally passive capture transcends itself to become a proactive move. Then, in a panel in which Quitely gives her a posture that exudes incredible strength, she articulates the Superman theme: “There’s always a way.”

Next: Suicide Cure! In 1 page! “It’s never as bad as you think. You’re much stronger than you think you are. Trust me.” OK Superman! I’ll trust you. In suicide, a moment of ultimate weakness, Superman focuses on this person’s strength. He provides absolutely no evidence of that strength, but you believe him. Because he’s Superman. That’s the power of the icon. That’s the “magic” of stories that Morrison talks about. Fictional Superman, the cultural icon, is built out of our very real belief that we can be better. His very existence is evidence of our strength.

Quitely’s work on this page deserves attention. The first panel makes awesome use of the comic-page’s inherent advantage in vertical space. You feel really high up, like you’re standing on a skyscraper. And the background is 100% full of skyscraper. The contrast between that hard steel and the woman’s soft, anguished face really makes you feel despair of the flesh in the techno-city of tomorrow. Then, when the big ‘S’ chest shows up behind her, he feels so thick, so strong. The cold-strong steel is defied by his warm-strong flesh. Then, when she melts into his arms, I melt too.

Next: Paradigm shift in Kandorian social philosophy! In 5 Panels! First, some context: For DC Comics fans, The Bottle City of Kandor is simply a fact. It’s an unchanging plot-point- a Kryptonian city shrunk into a bottle. Yeah, Superman is trying to return them to full size, but it’s kinda like Mr. Fantastic trying to cure the Thing: everybody knows it’s not gonna happen. So, for DC fans, a viable solution to Kandor is pretty mind-blowing. Especially a “so simple why hasn’t anybody thought of it before” solution. It transcends our assumptions, which Chomsky or any other propaganda theorist will tell you is 90% of the battle. Live on Mars and leave the bottle as tiny Supermen and Superwomen. The ruling council of Kandor opposed it because they didn’t want to be tiny. Then Van-Zee says “Have we confused matters of pride with matters of scale?” That’s such a brilliant line because it pulls the rug out from our assumptions; it makes us think in new ways, makes us transcend our usual thought patterns. That’s the best we can ask from art. Once again, Superman brings out the best.

Then, the Kandor Emergency Corps comes and says that they won’t wait for the Ruling Council. They don’t need the ruling class to make up their minds for them. They are transcending their social structures. Their dialogue proves Morrison a master of Comic Book Language. There's an awesome bit of the Silver Age that can been lost in modern realism: Words that resonate with drama. Words full of myth and legend. “Will you lead us as you once did, Van-Zee?” combined with preceding rousing speech and Quitely’s triumphant postures, gives you that intangible “F##k Yeah!” feeling.

Next: Lex Luthor! These five panels are a great romantic reading of the Superman/Luthor relationship. Once again, Superman sees the best. He calls Luthor out on the claim that he would have saved humanity without the Alien Superman’s intervention; he challenges Luthor to use his genius to benefit humanity. “Lex, I know there’s good in you.” Superman sees the good in the greatest Super-Villain of all time. Damn!

Quitely is once again a star here. When his back is turned to Superman, Lex is grinning. When he faces Superman, that grin turns to stoic defiance and saliva. That hidden grin shows the Luthor truth: Like it or not, he is defined by his relationship with Superman. Sure, it’s an antagonistic relationship, but it’s a relationship none-the-less. Humans- yeah, we’re selfish, but we care about what other people think of us. That means we care about other people. Sartre says “Hell is other people.” That’s because we care so much. Other people are Heaven, too.

Finally: Earth-Q! This is the clearest exploration of the transcendence theme. Superman creates an Earth to see what Earth would be like without a Superman. In other words, our Earth. Here we see the transcendent moments in human history: Early humans making cave paintings, the first art, and pointing to the sky, wondering what could be up there. Then, advances in art- Indian (I think) statuary. Then a Renaissance theorist arguing that we shouldn’t worship Gods, we should become Godlike- “Surpassing imagination’s greatest paragons.” Surpassing our dreams. Then we get Nietzsche imagining the Superman in his book Thus Spake Zarathustra (which gave the title to Richard Strauss’ piece which became the 2001 theme, which maybe better than any piece gives you a musical feeling of transcendence). Then we get Joe Schuster imagining Superman. What would happen on a world without Superman? We would dream him. The fact that we can conceive ultimate good means that we can BE ulitimate good.

Humans do a lot of horrible things to each other. But we do a lot of great things for each other, too. I’d bet that for every Anton Chigurh-psycho-killer there’s 100 child-cancer-ward nurses. Even if we hurt people (and it’s easy to hurt), we try to help (and it’s hard to help). And that’s beautiful. That’s Super.

[gungadin]

Best writer has got to go to Geoff Johns. Between wrapping up Booster Gold, bringing it in Action Comics with the majority of his Legion arc, the Brainiac arc, and New Krypton, JSA being still good, Green Lantern getting a GREAT origin, Red Lanterns, Rogues Revenge, and the start of Legion of Three Worlds, Johns still has tons of hype revolving around the upcoming Flash Rebirth and possibly writing ongoing Flash after that, Blackest Night, and Superman: Secret Origin with Gary Frank, it's really Geoff Johns just going out and kicking ass and taking names.

More thoughts later.

[cadgers]

Best Single Issue
Y: The Last Man #60, by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra

Best Ongoing
Scalped, Jason Aaron & R. M. Guéra

Best New Series
Invincible Iron Man, Matt Fraction

Best Returning Series
Criminal, Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

Best Story Arc
Bad Night, Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

Best Limited Series
Marvel 1985, Mark Millar & Tommy Lee Edwards

Best Artist
Steve Epting, Captain America

Best Cover Artist
James Jean, Fables

Best Writer
Geoff Johns, Green Lantern, Action Comics & Ed Brubaker, Criminal, Captain America, Daredevil.

[paper]

Best in General
Geoff Johns

Best New Hotness
Jason Aaron

[gungadin]

Best Writer
Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, Action Comics, JSA, Booster Gold, Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds)

Best Penciller
Gary Frank

Best Ongoing Series
Action Comics

Best Miniseries
Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge

Best Storyarc
"Wolves at the Gate" Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, by Drew Goddard, Georges Jeanty, and Joss Whedon

Best Single Issue
TIE: Y: The Last Man #60 by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra; Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men #1 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

Breakout Talent
TIE: Jason Aaron (Scalped, Ghost Rider, Wolverine); Peter J. Tomasi (Nightwing, Green Lantern Corps, Final Crisis: Requiem)

Breakout Penciller
Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8)

Best Writing Duo
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy)

Best Idea That Was Widely Panned and Turned Out to Be Way Awesome
Brand New Day

[mrmister]

I actually thought Giant Sized Astonishing was kind of beat.

On the other hand ASS #10 is the best single issue I've ever read.

[humphrey-lee]

What I'm looking at for our AICN year end wrap up thingy -

Best Writer: Jason Aaron - Scalped will hands down be my best ongoing, and between that, what he's done on Ghost Rider, and his Black Panther and Wolverine stories, this is pretty much a lock for me.

Best Ongoing: Scalped - See Above

Best Artist: Gabriel Ba (this is the one I'm most torn on though, because I loved Gary Frank's Action stuff, and I kind of want to play up Patrick Zircher because of what he did on the THOR specials and TERROR INC. And Gabriel really will only have produced 5 issues of comics this year because of the gap between UMBRELLA ACADEMY volumes so I dunno...)

Best Single Issue/Moment: Y: TLM 60 - no contest here, though this week's EX MACHINA really grabbed me...

Best Cover Artist: James Jean, as it will probably always be until he stops doing covers...

Best Mini-Series/Special/One-Shot: Thinking Pax Romana here, but I really have to go over what I bought this year. It's such a fucking blur...

Best Character: Superman - Even though I wasn't as big a fan of ASS as pretty much everyone else, I still recognized the revitalization, and between that, New Krypton and the ACTION stuff, it pretty much has to be the Big Blue Boy I think...

Best Publisher: Image - They just did way more books that I gave a damn about this year. I'm at the point where I'm buying almost no DCU books, and while I like a good bit of Marvel titles, mainly because they're giving guys like Fraction and Remender and Aaron chances now, not terribly many of them are like, Uber top tier material. Just really Criminal, Cap, and Thor really. A lot of good but not great. And Dark Horse just isn't putting out enough these days, as goes for pretty much the rest of the bigger Indie publishers...


As for the worst stuff, I honestly don't know. I don't read a lot of bad books, mostly just stuff I browse off the shelf and see how bad it is and then move on. The end of Countdown blew, of course. I don't think the beginning of Trinity was much better really. I don't think I read a lot of "bad" per se this year, but a ton of mediocre, and again way too much overhype. All the Bendis Avengers books, SI, Final Crisis, R.I.P. - lots of hubbaballoo made over books that I wouldn't grade better than a 6/10 - 7/10 tops. Oh yeah, and HULK is terrible, as I'd venture to say X-FORCE is too. How those are best sellers is beyond me.

[winthewonderboy]

Best Writers: Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns

Best One Shot: Teen Titans The Lost Annual

Best Series: The Superman Books, The Batman Books, Madman, Criminal

Best Single Issues: Y the Last Man #60, Phonogram: The Singles Club#1, All Star-Superman#10

Best Finales: All Star-Superman#12, Y the Last Man#60

Best Artists: Darwin Cooke, Gary Frank, Make Allred, JH Williams III, Marcos Martin, Sean Phillips

Best comics I wish would come out more often: Ex Machina, Powers, Billy Baston & The Magic of Shazam

Most Fun Storyline: Superman/Batman Lil' Leaguers

Biggest Surprises: Young Lairs, Supergirl, Jokers Asylum: The Penguin, Jokers Asylum: Two-Face, Age of Sentry, New Avengers#47, Skoottie Young's new art style

Biggest Disappointments: Batman: Cacophony, Secret Invasion, New Ways to Die, Trinity, Teen Titans, New York Four

Just plain sucked: Waterbaby, X-Factor(SI tie-in), Trinity#4

[optimus187prime]

Best Writer: Jason Aaron - Scalped will hands down be my best ongoing, and between that, what he's done on Ghost Rider, and his Black Panther and Wolverine stories, this is pretty much a lock for me.



Dont forget that awesome Penguin one shot.

[cormano]

Best Single Issue
Fantastic Comics #24 (Next Issue Project)

Best Ongoing Series
Amazing Spider-Man

Best Artist
John Romita Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man, Kick Ass, Mighty Avengers)

Best Writer
Mark Millar (Kick Ass, Marvel 1985, Old Man Logan, Fantastic Four, War Heroes)

Best Collection
Tie: Zot! The Complete Black and White Collection
The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus
Howard The Duck Omnibus

Best Come Back
Savage Dragon/Erik Larsen



Uh…

Best Tie In To A Disappointing Crossover Event
Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four

[thenextchampion]

I wanna give my two cents but I'm a little confused.

Is there an offical list we can use or just make up your own?

[humphrey-lee]

I wanna give my two cents but I'm a little confused.

Is there an offical list we can use or just make up your own?

Go nuts dude. I just used the categories we set for the AICN site since I've been brainstorming our "Year End" column for a couple weeks now.

[thenextchampion]

Alrighty then:

Best Single Issue
Detective Comics #850 (Great fight sequence and caps off a great arc with Hush no less)

Best Ongoing
Captain America (The last few issues of Brubaker's 'Death of..' arc were some of the best in the business. Add in some great plot twists, a teriffic ending; and outstanding pencils by Epting makes this a 'modern classic' Oh and the stuff afterwords (two issues so far) were good too)

Best Writer
Grant Morrison (Grumble if you must; but his Batman run before, during, and after RIP has just been some of the best work in print. He sets the bar for all stories to come for DC and whether you love it or not, you'll remember his run for ages. Plus his Final Crisis work has been marvelous and his reprinting of Doctor Who was a surprise as well)

Best Artist
(Tie) Gary Frank and Olivier Coipel (The first choice seems obvious. I mean when I say Geoff Johns, you most likely think of Superman. But Gary Frank will always be associated with Superman no matter how long he lives. Just read the recent issues of Action Comics with New Krypton and notice how the art is no where near as good. You'll see how much of an impact he has for the series. The next choice is a bit of a dark horse cause there are more popular choices to make. Coipel just does a great job with every single issue of Thor. His characters are gorgeous and he just draws the best Thor. For both artists I am not doing them justice, just buy the series they're associated with and you'll see why I think they are the best)

Best Comeback
The Incredible Hercules (Turning from D-level to B-level is a huge step. But every single issue he has taking over from the Hulk series has just been golden. Whether it's fighting with the GOD SQUAD! to just being with Namor; this entire series is just perfect)

Best Marvel Title
Nova (Okay so I called Captain America a 'modern classic'. But if you want just plain fun in a comic, look no further. The mini-arc alone with Galactus and Silver Surfer is worth the price of admission. But Nova has also had a great tie-in to Secret Invasion and the current arc with the Nova Corps is just a blast to read. Green Lantern might be considered the best overall Cosmic comic, but damnit....This might be the best Cosmic series of all time)

Best DC title
Batman (Once again, love it or hate it, Morrison's run on Batman has raised the bar for DC. Confusing or not Morrison has just weave in an entire new angle for the Batman mythos and even right now he is not losing a beat. RIP will be remembered (for me at least) the best Batman story period)
------------------------------------------
Worst Single Issue
Dark Reign One-Shot (Oh I'm sure there are tons of more stories I can think of, but since this came out recently, it's fresh in my mind. This defines for me that Bendis is going down a huge spiral slope and he's at the point of no return. No real great moments in this issue. But what makes this the worst issue of the year is the art. I'll say this again but, no other issue has made say 'Oh My God' louder and louder by turning the page. Maleev might've had a good run in some Daredevil arc a long way back, but this is just a peice of shit. Characters woefully off-model, bad panel layouts, ugly ugly faces, and just murky colors as well. If you want to see the worst art of the year, look no further)

Worst Ongoing
Hulk (Ah well couldnt do a 'worst of' award without a Loeb book appearing. Jesus, you remember when Loeb had a talent for writing? You wouldnt know it here. Every single issue takes literally 3 minutes to read. What defines Loeb right now is bad characterization, weird jokes (mainly sex jokes), and most of his characters has an IQ of 20. Loeb keeps getting lucky to have good artists on board, but overall the worst series to come out in a while is this. Shame we cant count Ultimates 3 cause that is even worse then this)

Worst Writer
Jeph Loeb (Well your gonna see a theme here arent ya? Again Loeb has written some of the worst peices of comics ever. Hulk just mentioned is a peice of shit. While Ultimates 3 is even a bigger pile of horse shit. Nothing good to recommend with either of these titles and even when he's doing other one-shots/issues (like his recent Buffy or Ultimate Captain Americal Annual) it just isnt good. Frank Miller has had a fall from grace, but Loeb has had even a worse fall from grace. Considering over a decade ago people were saying he was one of the best in the business....oh how the mighty have fallen)

Worst Artist
Renato Guedes and Jose Magalhaes (Why these two in particular? I mean I just ripped Maleev for doing the worst art in a single comic ever. These two in paricular just makes ugly ugly issues. Their characters are sometimes off model, I mean I complain about lines in faces with Nguyen...but these guys take the cake! It's hard to tell what emotion is going on when theres an extra 10 lines in someone's face. But their backgrounds, are just bland and has no flare. Look at the one panel of Krypton in Superman #681 and you'll see what I mean. Sometimes it looks like their panels arent even finished, or even the faces look finished. I'm sure this will be argued but to me, this is the worst art in a book this year)

Worst Comeback
Spider-Man (Now why is he considered a comeback? Well considering that Marvel wanted to bring him back to grace after the highly controversal JMS run...this BND is his comeback. Overall, not to turn this into a BND rant, this hasnt been a great year for Spidey. Others I'm sure will argue about this for posts and even more posts, but BND has been a failure in my eyes. Taking away almost 20 years of comic history and just making Peter back to a lonely and pathetic young adult is just plain boring. Yes the more current issues by Zeb Wells (and his first run on the series), Joe Kelly, and Mark Waid have been pretty fun to read. But those are only a handful of issues of what this new status quo has given us. Add in to a line of other disappoint writers, to a very medicore 'New Ways to Die' hype machine, to just hammering us with the same constant idea that this is the 'new' status quo just made this a frustrating title to read. Again, I'm sure others (especially conor) will disagree with me greatly; and again I dont want this to result into 100 posts for BND....but I just cant argue on how bad ASM has been since the retcon)

Worst Marvel title
Ultimates 3 (Bad writer, bad artist, colors only used were brown and more brown, and just a bad bad bad bad bad bad comic)

Worst DC title
Countdown (Oh my godness gracious, how could I forget about this now? Well it's just too bad for words. Constantly it felt like DC had to change the plot and ending greatly just to get the damn thing over with. Plus when you got a story where Mary Marvel and Jimmy Olsen are your big attractions; thats a problem. There's just too many words to describe Countdown but here's a tip. Even if this began last year, get the first trade of this series. Then read it all the way threw and tell me if the beginning of this story felt like the way it does at the end. You'll agree, that this thing just turned into a big clusterfuck for the writers and editorial staff)
-------------------------------
Odds and Ends

Best New Series
(Tie) Captain Britain and the MI:13 and Deadpool

Best Event
RIP

Worst Event
Secret Invasion

Best up and coming writer
Jason Aaron

Best Indie
The Walking Dead

Worst Indie
The End League

Best New Word
CRACKAJAMMA!!!! (From Incredible Herc #122)

Most underrated title
Deadpool

Most underrated artist
Esad Ribic

Most overused artist
Alex Ross

Series that defines the year
RIP

[timmywood-]

BEST WRITER
Geoff Johns

BEST SERIES
Captain America

BEST STORY ARC
JSA: Thy Kingdom Come

BEST ARTIST
Gary Frank

BEST NEW(to me at least) ARTIST
Farel Dalrymple
Marcos Martin (tie)

BEST NEW(to me at least) WRITER
Paul Cornell
Abnett and Lanning (tie)

BEST ONE SHOT
Final Crises: Requiem

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Scalped, Walking Dead, Green Lantern, Action Comics, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Britain, Teen Titans: The Lost Annual, The Umbrella Academy, Invincible, and a lot more.

[ryan79]

Feel Good Moment of the Year Involving B-Level Bad Guys: Avengers: The Initiative-Taskmaster and Constrictor lay down for Butterball so he can feel better about himself.

[racemccloud]

Feel Good Moment of the Year Involving B-Level Bad Guys: Avengers: The Initiative-Taskmaster and Constrictor lay down for Butterball so he can feel better about himself.

I'd like to add that the BEST moment of the year was Taskmaster and Antman watching episodes of "The Office" in the middle of a battle they didn't want to get involved in.

I hope that really happened and I didn't make that up...

[jumpingjupiter]

*Best Single Issue
Detective 851

*Best One-Shot
Twilight Guardian

*Best Ongoing
Nova

*Best New Series
Invincible Iron Man

*Best Story Arc
Green Lantern Secret Origin

*Best Limited Series
Huntress: Year One and Transhuman

*Best Interior Artist
Johnathan Hickman and Juan Doe

*Best Cover
Red Mass for Mars #1 and Supergirl #36

*Best Cover Artist
Josh Middleton, Jonathan Hickman and Juan Doe

*Best Writer
Geoff Johns

*Most Controversial and Best Dressed
Grant Morrison

*Sweetest Costume Design
Cliff Richard's Huntress

*Most Badass Moment
Batman busting out of his grave and Huntress cutting off Omerta's tongue

*Hilarity
"PLEAZ 4GIVE NO MORE BUTTSECHS!" - Transhuman #3

*Most Reflective Cranial Surface
Brian Micheal Bendis and Grant Morrison

Best Comic Related Other Media
the Iron Man movie

------

Predictions/hopes for 2009

Flash Rebirth will be a critical and commercial success, spawning a new flash on-going piloted by Geoff Johns. That ongoing will also kick ass.

Grant Morrison will write All Star Batman, some other dude will write Batman.

The Bat-Family will battle for the cowl but Batman will come back and kick all their asses and take the cowl himself. Fans will bicker.

Salvador Larroca will leave Invincible Iron Man. Someone who can draw will take over and the Fraction/someone-who-can-draw team will write a classic epic Iron Man run.

The Watchmen movie will be released and kick major ass. Comic geek chic will reach unprecedented levels of popularity creating a mass exodus to book stores. Local Comic Shop owners will be the new culture gurus and score lots of cooch.

I'll land a good job and take a break from pounding the freaking pavement.

[thenextchampion]

Ooh I got some more awards!

Best Cover
Amazing Spider-Man #575 (I dont know why I love this cover, I just do. Maybe it's because it's so jarring to see that Spidey is getting punched in the face it's funny to me. Plus, what are those white flakes coming off from the punch? Parts of Parker's eyes?)
(tie)
Birds of Prey #121 (Just love this cover to death, even if the issue itself wasnt the best. Just the fact Joker is using a 'BANG!' toy gun to shoot a man in the head is classic Joker. Plus the face Joker has in the cover is also perfect)

Worst Cover
Batman #682 (I'm a huge Alex Ross fan, but what the hell is going on here? I understand he was doing a homage to the 60's Adam West Batman...but with those horrible and bright colors, my god what was he thinking there?)

Most Awkward Cover
Final Crisis: Revelations #3 (Once again, where is that flame going/coming from or too...and should I be aroused because of it?)

Best Story arc
Valley Forge, Valley Forge in Punisher MAX #56-60 (Yes I am a Punisher junkie, but damn what a way for Ennis to go out. His mix of comic and prose is just brilliant and he basically sums up why Frank Castle is one of the best Marvel heroes out there. That whole fight scene in his warehouse with the mercs are the highlight)

Most Badass Moment
From Batman #681 (The panel of Batman coming out of the grave. Tony Daniel I could kiss you!)

Funniest Moment
From Incredible Hercules #122 (The funniest moment in the entire series so far and not a word is spoken. Just see the panel of Hercules winking to Amadeus Cho and you'll see why it's so damn funny)
-----------------------------------
Predictions for 2009

-Grant Morrison, where ever he goes and writes, will confuse everyone and only .5% of the public will get the gist of his work.
-Marvel will once again do another event that will have no big bearings for the entire Universe.
-DC and Didio will just drop series and add new ones without much warning.
-Writers for Amazing Spider-Man will still have to shoehorn new BND status quo's no matter what story comes out.
-Image, Dark Horse, and other indie publishers will make comics just as good or even better then mainstream comics....Barely anyone will pay attention
-Alex Ross will do 1,000 covers; just half of what he did in 2008.
-Wolverine will be a huge flop, but Deadpool will be the only saving grace for the film. :)
-Watchmen will be the best Alan Moore adaptation, quite possibly the best comic adaptation period. Alan Moore will still vomit in Zack Synder's direction whenever he meets him.
-Stan Lee will still be alive

[ryan79]

I'd like to add that the BEST moment of the year was Taskmaster and Antman watching episodes of "The Office" in the middle of a battle they didn't want to get involved in.

I hope that really happened and I didn't make that up...

Oh, it happened, and good call. Except that it was "Chuck" instead of "The Office".

But the thought of Antman saying "that's what she said" in the middle of a fight makes me happy.

[mikegraham6]

I don't know how anyone could argue that there was anything worse then Ultimates 3 this year. Total garbage and Jeph Loeb should be ashamed of himself

EDIT: OMG!! I can't believe it! Revision3 actually let me post a comment!!!!

[cam-]

-Wolverine will be a huge flop, but Deadpool will be the only saving grace for the film. :)


Wolverine "A huge flop" You so crazy Champ.

[cam-]

I think Warren Ellis should be considered for best writer this year. His continued efforts to get comics out in a variety of ways, beginning with his low cost "Fell" in 2007 and continuing with his free online comic Freak Angels this year, along with the rest of his excellent work at Avatar with Black Summer, Anna Mercury, No Hero, and Doctor Sleepless. Plus his one shot Aetheric Mechanics was one of the best surprises of the year, like Crecy the year before.

Couple that with the Marvel stuff, which I enjoy, I thought Thunderbolts was really fun, am currently enjoying the Astonishing X-men stuff (disregarding people's rage at it being called "Astonishing", and that Fiasco of a mini) and I'm anxiously waiting more New Universal stuff.

It's a solid body of work, with a crapload of variety, something not many others have managed in a career, let alone one year.

Warren Ellis '08. THink about it.

[ryan79]

Predictions for 2009


-Marvel will once again do another event that will have no big bearings for the entire Universe.

Really going out on a limb there, ain't ya?

[thenextchampion]

Wolverine "A huge flop" You so crazy Champ.

In my dreams Deadpool is cooler then Wolverine :)

Really Going out on a Limb there anit ya?

*reads Secret Invasion #8 again* No not really. Wait!
*reads WHH and Civil War* Yeah no not really going out on a limb here.

[oh_caroline]

Not doing a list, but this was definitely the year of Matt Fraction for me. "Invincible Iron Man" = best new series, "Uncanny X-Men" = best new direction for an existing series, "Immortal Iron Fist #18" = best single issue.

Your mileage may vary, but these are the books that stood out for me.

[paper]

Best New Comics Journalist

Jimski

[cormano]

I think Warren Ellis should be considered for best writer this year. His continued efforts to get comics out in a variety of ways, beginning with his low cost "Fell" in 2007 and continuing with his free online comic Freak Angels this year, along with the rest of his excellent work at Avatar with Black Summer, Anna Mercury, No Hero, and Doctor Sleepless. Plus his one shot Aetheric Mechanics was one of the best surprises of the year, like Crecy the year before.

Couple that with the Marvel stuff, which I enjoy, I thought Thunderbolts was really fun, am currently enjoying the Astonishing X-men stuff (disregarding people's rage at it being called "Astonishing", and that Fiasco of a mini) and I'm anxiously waiting more New Universal stuff.

It's a solid body of work, with a crapload of variety, something not many others have managed in a career, let alone one year.

Warren Ellis '08. THink about it.
Crecy is my runner up for best issue of the year.

[cormano]

Best Publisher
Image Comics

I am reading Savage Dragon, Spawn and Youngblood and enjoying them all. In addition to all of the great new stuff, they're publishing three of their launch titles (on a more regular basis than they were back in the early 90's).

[labor_days]

Worst Character of 2008
The Sentry, every fucking thing he's been in.

Worst Death
Monsieur Mallah, Salvation Run.

Worst Ongoing
The Flash.

Worst Limited Series
Someone bullshit with the X-men. I don't give a fuck, it was most likely awful.

[thenextchampion]

Worst Character of 2008
The Sentry, every fucking thing he's been in.

Worst Death
Monsieur Mallah, Salvation Run.

Worst Ongoing
The Flash.

Worst Limited Series
Someone bullshit with the X-men. I don't give a fuck, it was most likely awful.

I'm confused by your limited series award....Care to elaborate?

[oh_caroline]

I'm confused by your limited series award....Care to elaborate?

See, Labor is the year's best reviewer of bullshit stuff he didn't read and isn't even sure exists.

It's a gift he has. You cannot stop him, you can only hope to contain him.

[mikegraham6]

i know oh caroline will agree with me when i say:
Best Series That Shouldn't Have Been Cancelled
The Order

Damn i miss that book

[oh_caroline]

i know oh caroline will agree with me when i say:
Best Series That Shouldn't Have Been Cancelled
The Order

Damn i miss that book

YES.

I couldn't remember if that was still coming out in 2008, or I would have included it in my Year of Fraction.

[alaskalonewolf]

I've been looking forward to seeing
more from mochizuki mikiya,
http://i.yai.bz/assets/45/747/l_p1013074745.jpg

...although I still say my vote for best would
go to the Dark Horse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_Dark_Horse_Comics_publications) and Matt Camp (http://mattcampsblog.blogspot.com/). I just like it...
http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/14/14052.jpg
...or The Last Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_The_Last_Man) series... I have this monkey fetish.

My all time favorite is still:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Lone_Wolf_manga.jpg

[winthewonderboy]

Ooh I got some more awards!

Worst Cover
Batman #682 (I'm a huge Alex Ross fan, but what the hell is going on here? I understand he was doing a homage to the 60's Adam West Batman...but with those horrible and bright colors, my god what was he thinking there?)

Predictions for 2009

-Wolverine will be a huge flop, but Deadpool will be the only saving grace for the film. :)
-Watchmen will be the best Alan Moore adaptation, quite possibly the best comic adaptation period. Alan Moore will still vomit in Zack Synder's direction whenever he meets him.
-Stan Lee will still be alive

I'm not the biggest Ross fan in the world, but I loved that cover.

If the shit-tastic X3 can make four hundred million world wide, i don't see any reason way Wolverines not gonna be a hit. Plus, Ratner has nothing to do with this and IMO it looks like a fun action movie.

It most definitely looks to be the best Moore adaptation. But the best comic adaptation really? Its gonna have to be mighty good to out best Ghostworld, American Splendor and The Dark Knight.

Don't jinx it, man. :)

[mikegraham6]

here's a prediction for you:
Heath Ledger will be nominated for a best supporting actor oscar, but will lose

[thenextchampion]

here's a prediction for you:
Heath Ledger will be nominated for a best supporting actor oscar, but will lose

I'd be pissed if that were to happen. No reason for Ledger to lose....he was the best supporting actor PERIOD. Who the fuck else could beat him?

[cam-]

Drugs.

What, too soon?

[mikegraham6]

Drugs.

What, too soon?
SNAP!

[optimus187prime]

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x33/sternau/oh_snap_flowchart_sm.jpg

[mikegraham6]

Ledger got TOLD! ;)

[thenextchampion]

Ledger got TOLD! ;)

He's a laughing corpse right about now...

[paper]

Pretty lame, guys.

[cam-]

Pretty lame, guys.

Awww, didn't you used to have a sense of humour?

[filipsablik]

*Best One-Shot
Twilight Guardian


Thanks, JumpingJupiter!

My prediction for 2009 - Jonathan Hickman is 2009's Matt Fraction.

[paper]

Awww, didn't you used to have a sense of humour?

Still do. Just exercising that sense.

[oh_caroline]

Thanks, JumpingJupiter!

My prediction for 2009 - Jonathan Hickman is 2009's Matt Fraction.

In what sense? I don't know much of anything about Hickman, but I've heard his name enough to be curious.

[paper]

In what sense? I don't know much of anything about Hickman, but I've heard his name enough to be curious.

He's an indie creator who does incredibly dense comics, designing them from the ground up. High concepts and intensely thoughtful scripts. The Fraction comparison comes in with Hickman's involvement with upcoming Marvel projects as a co-writer. He's working with Bendis in the way that Fraction worked with Brubaker. The whole apprentice system, ya know?

[oh_caroline]

He's an indie creator who does incredibly dense comics, designing them from the ground up. High concepts and intensely thoughtful scripts. The Fraction comparison comes in with Hickman's involvement with upcoming Marvel projects as a co-writer. He's working with Bendis in the way that Fraction worked with Brubaker. The whole apprentice system, ya know?

Oh, that is cool. I saw his name on the "Secret Warriors" thing but I wasn't sure of the story; and I know that his name has come up various times on the show but I've never got around to picking anything up. Will make a note.

[mrpopular]

Deadpool best.. of course i don't read really anything else so... Kick-Ass was also great... The Worst for me would be the fact that it's taken a year to get 5 Kick-ass comics.

[labor_days]

I'm confused by your limited series award....Care to elaborate?

Oh wait. I didn't proofread that.

Should be,

Worst Limited Series
Some bullshit with the X-men. I don't give a fuck, it was most likely awful.

[valoharth]

The best thing I've read this year: Echo

Worst thing I've read: Batman RIP and no I'm not reading it wrong.

[paper]

No more "worst" lists, you downosauruses. Celebrate the year, don't get mired in the negative.

It's petty and it's tacky.

[timmywood-]

No more "worst" lists, you downosauruses. Celebrate the year, don't get mired in the negative.

It's petty and it's tacky.
Hear hear. Why focus on what was bad. I am all for constructive criticism but this sucks and that sucks attitude is such a downer.
Best purchase for me:
Absolute watchmen

[cyberauron]

Worst comic Final Crisis

Best Comic All of final crisis Tie-ins

[cyberauron]

Worst Comic: Secret Invasion 7

Best Comic Secret Invasion 7

[joexmas]

I was really happy with the Justice League: New Frontier Blu-Ray I got. Definitely one of the best of 2008. Not technically a comic, but I am carrying on with the positive theme.

[valoharth]

Best thing I've read this year but wasn't published this year: Black Hole. So good!

[bonemachine]

Deadpool best.. of course i don't read really anything else so... Kick-Ass was also great... The Worst for me would be the fact that it's taken a year to get 5 Kick-ass comics.

4 actually! This is one of the few series's that I'm picking up monthly and it's barely coming out! Get your finger out Millar!

[thenextchampion]

4 actually! This is one of the few series's that I'm picking up monthly and it's barely coming out! Get your finger out Millar!

Once again: The film will most likely be out before the final issue is released to the public. Let's hope that isnt the case, or Millar and Marvel will look mighty stupid.

It's tough wondering who should be best artist if you think about it. So many great artists got great issues or scripts to work with. I mean I picked Olivier Coipel and Gary Frank for a tie...but so many are out there. Like:

Leniel Yu
Tony Daniel
Michael Lark
Wellinton Alves
Mike Perkins
Jae Lee
John Romita Jr.
J.G Jon.....*just like the man himself, I cant finish the post on time this year*
Frank Quitely
Ivan Reis
Esad Ribic

And just so much more! I mean it's the same for writers too....but I think this could be the first time in awhile where there are more good creative teams on board comics in a long time. We focus on the huge negative storylines or factors in a year; but this was one of the best years in comics.

[jumpingjupiter]

Thanks, JumpingJupiter!

My prediction for 2009 - Jonathan Hickman is 2009's Matt Fraction.

No thank YOU!

Troy is, in my opinion, the freshest voice in superhero comics since Alan Moore. I'm not exaggerating. I do appreciate that you saw that potential and gave him a shot. I'm looking forward to seeing the Twilight Guardian series hit the shelves and hope it is a success! You can bet I'll be talking about it here at iFanboy.

[johnvferrigno]

I was really happy with the Justice League: New Frontier Blu-Ray I got. Definitely one of the best of 2008. Not technically a comic, but I am carrying on with the positive theme.

I thought this DVD was outstanding. The movie was terrific and I loved the bonus features, especially the one on the history of the League. Naturally, the Absolute New frontier is now Out of Print. grrrrr.

I have high hopes for the Wonder Woman DVD coming out in March, too. It looked really good, from the preview they showed on the Batman animated DVD from a few months back.

[filipsablik]

@oh_caroline: Hickman is one of those rare guys in comics that seemed to arrive fully formed. He has a great unique voice and thinks about comics in a complete package way - the art, design, lettering, coloring, text, etc. I get the same sense from Fraction (particularly Casanova). Like Fraction I'm sure his Marvel work will be solid, but if you want to get best of guys like Fraction, Hickman, Kirkman, and even Brubaker and Bendis, I think you have to check out their original work.

[oh_caroline]

@oh_caroline: Hickman is one of those rare guys in comics that seemed to arrive fully formed. He has a great unique voice and thinks about comics in a complete package way - the art, design, lettering, coloring, text, etc. I get the same sense from Fraction (particularly Casanova). Like Fraction I'm sure his Marvel work will be solid, but if you want to get best of guys like Fraction, Hickman, Kirkman, and even Brubaker and Bendis, I think you have to check out their original work.

I've read creator-owned work by all of those guys, though honestly my feelings about it is more complicated. Interestingly, my favorite things by Bendis, Brubaker, and Fraction are all ones that are tied to larger universes, but loosely so, depending largely on characters they created. (That would be Alias, Sleeper, and The Order if you're keeping score). Maybe one day somebody will explain "Casanova" to me in a way that I can process but I just have no idea. (That's not a declaration of "the plot was confusing" it's a declaration that "I have no idea what this book is supposed to be or what the point of it is").

[gabeja]

I have yet to put together my complete list, but a few books that seem to have gone under the radar are Greatest Hits from vertigo, with great art by Glenn Farby, and Secret Six, which has been nonstop fun. I also think that air deserves a mention, even though it went off the tracks in the last issue :(

[deezer89]

In my humble opinion:
Best Books: Green Lantern and it's respective tie-ins, Captain America
Worst Books: Secret Invasion, post-Rucka Checkmate

[deadspace]

I'm too crap and lazy to think up category winners so the best stuff for me was this:

I Kill Giants
Echo
House of Mystery
Locke & Key
Dead Space
Kick Ass (it just cracks me up)
Doktor Sleepless

Guerillas and Golly have been great surprises.

Special note about Joe Kelly making this years comics so much better.

Worst was just any of the mainstream superhero stuff I tried - ASM, Secret Six, most of the Joker's asylum series (except the penguin one), the current Batman Confidential arc is pretty bad, Batman Cacaphony is awful, Green Lantern (secret origin). The Astounding Wolf-man is possibly the worst thing I've ever read (couldn't get past the 2nd issue... ) and TWD is brain-numbing tedium. Oh actually Vix was teh sux too.