Writer: Jonathan Hickman, Artist: Stefano Casselli/ Leinil Yu
IANN ROBINSON: I love when writers assume comic book readers are intelligent. Jonathan Hickman not only assumes it, he depends on it. Through his event series Infinity, and his work with Avengers and New Avengers, Hickman has raised the bar on intelligent writing in comic books. At times, the writing was too layered, forcing all of us one-issue-a-week readers to read several issues at once. For the first time in ages, The Avengers is so much more than just the A-Team of Marvel Comics. Hickman has added a depth that would seem unlikely for a book like this. He’s turned the do-gooders into a team ready to make the tough decisions to save their world. This run on Avengers/New Avengers is a game changer.
Writer: Garth Ennis, Artist: Goran Parlov.
ANDY HUNSAKER: Yes, this maxi-series sprawled out over two years, and it’s only debatably a superhero book since there are no super powers involved, but Nick Fury counts and Frank Castle guest-starred. Then again, Ennis’ soul-crushingly bleak look at American foreign policy in the 20th century through Fury’s eye should convince you that he’s anything but heroic. Instead, he’s a soldier addicted to war and unable to function as a human being if he doesn’t have some campaign to take charge of, from Korea through Nicaragua and beyond. There’s a fine line between war hero and war criminal, and despite all the compelling action in the thick of the fight, Fury realizes too late that the smarmy senator he’s been bucking against has been playing him like a puppet, and that the Cold War he’s been fighting for decades “means about as much as my next shit.” It’s a brutal look at merciless machinations of entrenched geopolitical brinkmanship and a hell of a punch to the gut.
