FAVORITE BALLSY MOVES
KILLING OFF PETER PARKER (Superior Spider-Man and Related Titles)
Well, at least the part of Doc Ock’s brain that still housed Peter Parker. Everything involved with Superior Spider-Man is ballsy, but this takes the sack-cake. When Ock took over Peter’s brain, everyone was shocked. Next, writer Dan Slott let on that Pete was still buzzing around inside Ock’s mind. At that point, readers began to feel at ease, that this might all end soon. Suddenly, Slott allows Ock to destroy that part of his mind, to defeat Peter Parker in a battle, and do it in a way that crushed Peter’s spirit. Not only was this a harsh and emotional moment, but it also left Peter’s return as a secret only Slott would know. Easily, the ballsiest move of the year.
CHANGING BATMAN’S ORIGIN
Batman Zero Year (Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo)
It was only a matter of time – this many cooks in the kitchen reimagining their New 52 version of Batman was always eventually going to render the classic Batman Year One by Frank Miller obsolete. Once that was realized, it fell to the A-team of Gotham City to craft a new origin, and Snyder & Capullo were not content to try and simply put a new coat of paint on Miller’s work. They are doing their own thing, and so far, it’s been interesting, different and intriguing.
DESTROYING OA
Green Lantern Corps #24 (Van Jensen, Robert Venditti, Bernard Chang)
The “Lights Out” story arc drastically changed the status quo of the Green Lantern universe – or at least, we thought so. Relic, a survivor from a previous universe, explained to the Lanterns that their use of the light is actively destroying their reality, and his quest to prevent this from happening included destroying the longtime GL homeworld of Oa. They’ve since relocated to Mogo, which makes sense, because if a sentient planet is on your team, you should probably live there, but they still haven’t seemed to figure out where to go from there, and they’re starting to fall back into the same old habits. There’s a lot of potential with this fundamental redefinition of how the Lantern power functions, so let’s hope the new team finds a way to make that work.
THE ILLUMINATI BETRAYS CAPTAIN AMERICA
New Avengers #3 (Jonathan Hickman, Steve Epting)
The age old debate about dealing with the world as it is vs. how we’d like it to be reared it’s ugly head when the problem of the interdimensional incursions presented itself to the new-look Illuminati that Black Panther reluctantly called together. When Captain America objected to their plans for a doomsday weapon as a means to sacrifice other worlds to save their own, his unflappable idealism showed the rest of the pragmatists in the group that they were never going to come to a consensus. So they did what secret societies do – they wiped his mind and kicked him out. It’s given us an ugly feeling in our gut about some of our greatest heroes ever since.
FAVORITE SURPRISE
THE CRIME SYNDICATE ARRIVES
Justice League #23 (Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis)
We weren’t really sure what the hell was going on with the clusterfuck that was The Trinity War, but things became abundantly clear when the Earth 2 doppelgangers of the Justice League, known as the Crime Syndicate, showed up and made their presence felt by wiping out three different Justice Leagues and immediately conquering the world. A collective “oh, so THAT’S what Forever Evil will be about” was felt by all.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 GETS TO STAY IN THE PRESENT DAY
Superior Spider-Man #19 (Dan Slott, Ryan Stegman)
We thought it was just going to be a neat little guest-starring appearance in the wake of all the Age of Ultron chrono-malarkey, but Slott did us one better and came up with a cool reason for Miguel O’Hara to be trapped in the present day instead of having to get shunted back to 2099 and comic book oblivion. Now, he’s disguised himself as a toady for his evil ancestor Tiberius Stone in the newly-created Alchemax – the megacorp that ruins lives in his time – and maybe he’ll figure out a way to stop it all. This is awesome!
THERE IS A LATVERIAN SCHOOL OF SCIENCE THAT TEENAGERS GO TO
Infinity: The Hunt #1 (Matt Kindt, Steven Sanders)
In the wake of Avengers Arena, some were worried that the coolness of Avengers Academy would be lost, but this little Infinity spin-off came out of nowhere not only to keep the fire burning, but to expand it. There’s the X-Men school, Avengers Academy and the Future Foundation, sure, but now there’s also the Pan-Asian School For The Unusually Gifted, The Wakandan School for Alternative Studies, an Atlantean school, and The Latverian School of Science. We had the same response as Quentin Quire does here, and in the next issue, there are Doombot Schoolmarms and Baron Blood as faculty!
FAVORITE REBOUND SERIES
GREEN ARROW (Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino)
When DC Comics first reintroduced the emerald archer, he did not go over so well. Green Arrow’s introduction to the New 52 came with uneven stories that did nothing to really carve out a niche for GA. Along comes writer Jeff Lemire, and since he took over, the series has become a monster, with exciting stories, great character development, and gorgeous art from Andrea Sorrentino, Green Arrow is a lesson on how to revitalize a series.
DEADPOOL (Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn, Scott Koblish and Various Artists)
What once was awesome had transmogrified into an overexposed joke machine, but Duggan & Posehn appear to be shifting gears and heading back towards awesome again. The series remains funny (or should I say ‘regains’ funny?), but genuine effort is being put into revitalizing Wade Wilson as a full-fledged character with actual dramatic elements and a more coherent backstory. Lest we take ourselves too seriously, though, the Koblish “Inventory Issues” have been unabashed genius.
FAVORITE INDIE COMIC
Hip Hop Family Tree (Ed Piskor, Fantagraphics)
Originally serialized on the amazing site Boing Boing, Hip Hop Family Tree was collected into this wonderful graphic novel. Hip Hop is the most dominating force in the music industry these days, which wasn’t always the case. Ed Piskor beautifully captures the early days of Hip Hop, when it was a street level, grassroots music scene. Everything is here – the rivalries, the battles, the old school masters, and the players who helped seed an industry that would grow bigger than anyone imagined. One of the most ingenious, and entertaining indie reads this year.
Honorable Mentions; Velvet (Ed Brubaker/Steve Epting), The Property (Rutu Modan/Jessica Cohen), Battling Boy (Paul Pope), God Hates Astronauts (Ryan Browne)
FAVORITE EVENT SERIES
Infinity (Jonathan Hickman, Various Artists)
Hands down the best event series of the year. In fact, this is the best event series either of the big two has released in a decade. Jonathan Hickman takes the entire idea of the event series to a whole new level. Infinity involves new villains The Builders, plus old terrors in the form of Thanos and his band of merry soldiers. Infinity is not just a sci-fi action epic – this thing delves into the metaphysical, the existential, and also changes the entire outlook of The Avengers forever. Nothing this year even touches Infinity. It’s absolutely perfect, and has enough respect for comic book readers to remain intelligent throughout.
Honorable Mention: Zero Year, Lights Out
FAVORITE MINISERIES
TRILLIUM (Jeff Lemire)
Jeff Lemire’s Trillium wins simply because it is so weird. The story crosses dimensions, planets and the space-time continuum. Where most writers would tell this story as an A-to-Z sci-fi adventure tale, Lemire has decided to create a space opera with cues from Frank Zappa and Stanley Kubrick. Trillium involves a solider from the ’30s, a scientist from the future, a flower that can save humanity, plus Mayan ruins and time travel. As insane as it sounds, Lemire maintains control over all the plot threads, delivering something truly different.
Honorable Mentions: The Wake, Miniature Jesus, Fury: My War Gone By, Red Team, Dream Thief
WORST SURPRISE
THE WALKING DEAD HASN’T BEEN CANCELLED
Once a book that oozed creativity, Walking Dead has become a shameful parody of itself. After issue #100, where readers sat through the unnecessary death of Glenn, the already limping series fell apart entirely. Plotlines continue to be regurgitated, and writer Robert Kirkman’s latest big bad, Negan, is a lame, predictable Governor rehash. Currently, this title which gets worse by the issue is involved in a twelve-issue war with Negan. I checked out once we met Ezekiel, the guy with a pet tiger.
