House to Astonish – The Homies 2015
It’s that time of the year again, where comics blogs and podcasts do their obligatory look-back best-ofs, and that means it’s time for the House to Astonish Homies Awards!
This year, we’re doing something slightly different. We’re ditching the “worst” categories, because really, we’d rather spend the time we have bigging stuff up than moaning about stuff we didn’t enjoy. So there are more new categories, each with the usual rigmarole attached – we want YOU to help, so you all name your picks in the comments, and Paul and I each choose our own, and we talk a bit about each of the three on our awards show.
We’re recording on 30th December, so you have until 8pm UK time (3pm Eastern, noon Pacific) on December 29 to make your choice. When you list your picks, don’t just name names either, because we’ll be reading out the best comments on the show, so let us know your thinking!
BEST NEW SERIES
This one’s pretty self-explanatory – any comic whose first issue was published between 1 January 2015 and the date of recording (30th December) is eligible. What new series got your attention the most this year?
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
This one’s a little less self-explanatory – what series, again first published between 1 January and date of broadcast, did you think was best, with the proviso that it has to be something where the property wasn’t in existence prior to the start of 2012. We’re counting re-use of titles as well as concepts, so Squirrel Girl, Jem and the Holograms and Omega Men wouldn’t be eligible, but (for example) Southern Bastards or Island would.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
The counterpart to the categories above, which covers books whose first issue was published in 2014 or before. They’ve been around the block, but they’ve still got what it takes.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
These are explaining themselves by this point, right? We’re looking for OGNs, one-shots and minis published in 2015 (or partially in 2015, in the case of minis).
FAVOURITE WRITER
FAVOURITE ARTIST
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Each of these three is pretty self-explanatory – whose name on the cover or credits box of a book makes you want to pick it up? Whose work do you most look forward to seeing?
MOST WANTED
This is for the comic, series or graphic novel that saw print this year which you’d want to see more of, whether that be a book that was cancelled before its time, a one-shot or mini that just begs for a follow-up, or an OGN that you’d love to see a sequel to.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
It may have seemed unappealing when you read about it online, and those preview pages may have looked unremarkable, but when you finally got the winner of this category in your hands you were ready to eat your words. What comic, series or graphic novel did you find yourself enjoying much more than you thought you would?
STIFF DRINK AWARD
This award will go to the comic or graphic novel that most made us gasp with surprise – an unexpected plot twist, a daring cliffhanger or a shocking denouement will stand a book in good stead here.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
This is exactly what it says – which creator, creative team, publisher or other contributor to the world of comics really knocked it out of the park this year?
Let us have your picks in the comments thread below, along with your thinking on each one – we’ll read out a range of the responses on our big end-of-year show. Happy nominating!
BEST NEW SERIES
Omega Men by Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda. Ballsiest thing either of the big 2 have published in years, and King’s scripting is meticulous and deliberate and incredible.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
The Private Eye by BKV and Marcos Martin. They should just work together forever.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Secret Wars as a continuation of Hickman’s entire Marvel oeuvre, which despite the delays managed to live up to the hype of a book that’s the culmination of 10 years of stories.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
2 Brothers by Ba & Moon. Holy shit was this good.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Tom King. HUGE year for him, and precisely 0 books he wrote (of a tremendous output: Grayson, Omega Men, Vision, that Justice League GL one shot, Robin War) were bad.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Nate Powell. You Don’t Say was old work, but it was incredibly thoughtful and had great use of inks for mood. And March continues to be a masterpiece.
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Matt Hollingsworth. Wytches is a game changer.
MOST WANTED
Prez, but only because Omega Men got a 12 issue commitment and Prez hasn’t yet.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
The entire DC You relaunch. Batgirl, Omega Men, Midnighter, Prez and We Are Robin are all absolutely stellar comics and so completely unexpected from DC, while some other books (Robin: Son of Batman, Cyborg, Jim Gordon in a mech suit) aren’t as shocking in their existence, but are still great.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Darth Vader when he found out Luke’s name. The comic finally made him a badass again.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Maybe it’s a Force Awakens high, but I don’t think anyone’s had a better year than the teams making the Star Wars comics. They’re all at least good, and Aaron and Gillen have made Star Wars and Darth Vader two of the best comics period.
BEST NEW SERIES
Archie.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Monstress. Just look at it.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Velvet. My favorite book by a fair margin because of a perfect storm of genre, protagonist, art and colors.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Ed Brubaker. The Fade Out and Velvet are the two books that go straight to the top of the pile when they come out.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Fiona Staples. Well, those two books and Saga.
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Bettie Breitweiser.
MOST WANTED
Nonplayer. I don’t know if the unique situation of the creator adds some extra mystique, but I’m fascinated by the book.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Wars. The elevator pitch just sounds stupid, it took a wrecking ball to even the handful of things I still liked at Marvel, and it gave us a perfect and inviting jumping-off point. All of that is still true, but many of the books, including the main one, were pretty good.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
The Archie reboot. Who thought such a thing would be possible? If you wanted to remake Archie for this century, how could it possibly have been done better? It was a dream creative team doing great books.
BEST NEW SERIES
We are robin… to be fair all of DC You has been damn good and that’s unexpected from DC comics.
honorable mentions for Omega men and Midnighter for both being ballsy as hell.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young. it makes me giggle It’s so much silly fun
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Batman – the team of Scott and Greg are having a blast and we are all along for a wild ride.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Tom King this year has been doing
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Brian Hitch for his JLA has wonderful rubble
MOST WANTED
The authority it’s exactly what DC needs to shake things up.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Dark Knight III the master race… come on it’s frank miller after DK2 and it’s not 30 pages of whores whores and whores (so far)
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Secret wars for sending the ultimate universe to go live on the same farm as wildstorm… they play in the long grass together.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Marvel for the 5 months of mostly fun comics that came out of battleworld
sorry
FAVOURITE WRITER
Tom King this year has been doing some wonderful work
and the OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT needs the note that all the good work has been blown by going back to 99% same as before.
Best New Series
Monstress. Very smart move on Liu’s part to give us very near an arc’s worth of story in the debut issue. I think I might have trade-waited on this one if it had come out in a slower start with single issues. But the team gave themselves enough space to lay out the world and characters and me enough material to get hooked. The art is gorgeous, the world has a feeling of age and depth to it, and the characters, although largely unlikable, have most definitely held my attention. Great debut and I’m looking forward to more.
Best Actually New Series
Monstress. See above.
Best Continuing Series
Saga. It’s still being rightfully praised to high heavens elsewhere, so I’ll just say that Vaughn and Staples continue to kill it with this book.
Best Mini, One-Shot or OGN
I would up rolling dice for this one. Self-Obsessed, Lion of Rora, and Hopeless Savages: Break all impressed the the hell out of me in different ways, and I couldn’t decide which I liked best of them all. Lion of Rora takes it by chance.
Favourite Writer
Natasha Alterici – Heathen has been a wonderful read. It’s a tense, yet surprisingly sweet Norse-fantasy coming of age story playing with themes of defiance, discovery, and acceptance of one’s role without being defined by it. There are only four issues out so far, but I’m completely hooked.
Favourite Artist
Ben Dewey – Autumnlands. Dewey’s doing a great job blending fantasy and sci-fi landscapes, and his anthro characters are expressive without becoming Disneyfied. Solid work with difficult subject matter.
Favourite Colorist
Jordie Bellaire continues to be one of the best.
Most Wanted
Amazing X-Men – This book got off to a rocky start. Aaron was with it for one largely-forgotten story last year, then Kyle and Yost had a weak initial arc after. But the guest-issues were pleasantly fun, strong in both story and art, and by the third arc, Yost had gotten a better handle on the cast. The team dynamics began to gel, the quips began to lean less toward mean-spirited, Whedon-wannabe snark and more toward the kind of blunt banter common to comrades. Amazing was turning into a pretty solid superhero book, something that the X-Line had been spotty on since AvX. Plus there were frequent guest-spots by the Academy X/New X-Men crew where the kids got to be more supporting cast and less wallpaper, and I’m always eager for those. Really, I feel like this book was canceled just as it was finding its stride. It’s definitely the casualty of Marvel’s non-reboot that I miss most.
Most Pleasant Surprise
Kaptara. I honestly don’t know what I expected from this book going in, but what I got was a hilarious, irreverant space-opera/80’s cartoon nostalgia mash-up coupled with some unexpectedly sublte, poignant growth for our central character, Keith. I have no idea which direction Zdarsky and McLeod will go with this book from issue to issue, but it’s all part of the attraction at this point.
Stiff Drink Award
Manifest Destiny #18. I was wary of this book at first, for reasons ranging from fears of historical erasure to bracing for another round of bullshit “native” mysticism in the supernatural elements. But Manifest Destiny started off strong and built into a great horror-survival adventure that tipped the occasional knowing wink to historical events. And then then third arc wrapped and… wow. Horrific, yet utterly fitting. At this point, I’ve no doubts that Dingess and Roberts know just what they’re doing, both with regard to the source material and the themes they’re working into their narrative. They’re not afraid to let their versions of Lewis and Clark be both great men and hardened monsters as horrifying as anything they might encounter out in the wilderness. Fantastic read.
Outstanding Achievement
Giving it to Image. In a time when they could be resting on their laurels, they continue to tighten things aboard ship, and it stands out the more when Marvel can’t even manage to wrap its big, scene-setting event tentpole on time. Well done.
I feel like this was definitely Brian K. Vaughan’s year for FAVORITE WRITER: Paper Girls, Barrier, Private Eye, Saga and We Stand on Guard were all fantastic, and completely different from each other.
BEST NEW SERIES
Archie – This is fun, and beautiful, and something I’d hand to anybody, knowing they’d enjoy it. I’m a lifelong Archie fan, so it’s weird that a reimagining this thorough manages to not make my skin crawl somehow.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Paper Girls – An entirely intriguing new creator owned series by the best creative team currently making comics… until the Waid/Samnee Black Widow shows up.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Saga – This wins by default, just by generally being excellent and keeping its numbering, while almost every other series I read has rebooted this year.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT, OR OGN
Eltingville Club – Good Christ, did this thing put me in a mood. Bleakness, thy name is Eltingville. Great!
FAVORITE WRITER
Brian K. Vaughan – His name on the cover is a guarantee of quality. I know my money isn’t going to waste on a BKV comic book.
FAVORITE ARTIST
Chris Samnee – I don’t know how it’s possible that he’s improved since Thor: the Mighty Avenger, but he has. Heir to the throne of Toth.
FAVORITE COLORIST
Muntsa Vicente – She makes everything prettier. The Private Eye, She-Hulk, Barrier… the best-looking comics of the year had her name on them.
MOST WANTED
Teen Dog – A delight. More, please.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Wars – The main series itself wasn’t awful. In fact, it was beautiful and fun. Didn’t come out on time, which is a shame, but I’d thought Marvel had forgotten how to make a decent event series. Even writers I admire had made some terrible, overstuffed comic books. This one worked. A miracle!
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Paper Girls #1 – That last page sent my imagination going.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Kurt Busiek – Astro City somehow hasn’t lost a step after all these years. He’s a creator in the true sense of the word. With Brent Anderson or without, he will entertain you and make you think. And he’s maybe the greatest currently-working practitioner of the lost art of the single issue. Good job, Kurt.
Best New Series – Archie
Best Actually New Series – The Goddamned
Best Continuing Series – Chew. In the home stretch, i will miss it greatly when it is over.
Best Mini – Weirdworld. Maybe the best of the Secret Wars tie-in books.
Favorite Writer – hard to choose between Hickman, Gillen, Brubaker and Rucka, but i will choose Jason Aaron. Star wars, Thor(s), Weirdworld, Southern Basterds, Dr Strange, Goddamned. Quite the year.
Favorite Artist – apologies to fiona staples and chris samnee, and colleen coover, but i will choose Michael Lark, primarily for Lazazrus.
Favorite Colorist – Matt Wilson.
Most Wanted – waid/samnee DD. The new series really shows how special their run was on the title.
Most pLeasant surprise – how good most of the secret wars minis were. At least a dozen were above average and a handful were great.
Stiff Drink – just about every issue of Saga
Outstanding Achievement – Fables. Maybe it stayed on too long, but hard to take away efforts by Willingham, Buckngham and all the creators over a decade.
For books like Ant-Man and Squirrel Girl that had two number ones this year by largely the same creative team due to Secret Wars, do we count them as one series or two?
BEST NEW SERIES
Much to my surprise Jason Aaron and Russell Daughterman keep finding interesting things to do with Thor and chemotherapy
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
It wraps up next issue but The Fade Out has been the most thrilling and, more importantly, concise Brubaker and Philps comic for a good long while.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Hasn’t wrapped yet but if Hickman’s Secret War sticks the landing it’ll be he best Marvel event in a while and the end of an audacious if occasionally indulgent and incoherent run of comics.
FAVOURITE WRITER
An embarrasment of riches this year on the writing front; Brubaker, Rucka, Hickman, Moore, Aaron and Waid but no one voice really stood out for me. Maybe I should be reading more Tom King comics.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
As someone else here just said Chris Samnee gets better and better. I’m looking forward to a Black Widow comic who’dathunkit.
MOST WANTED
Where’s the rest The Sixth Gun? Three issues from the end and we’re just left hanging.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Airboy. Never got the fuss about James Robinson, I’d never heard of Greg Hinkle and I always thought Airboy was the worst thing Tim Truman put his name to but that was a ton of very twisted fun
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Issue six of Providence has a sexual assault that will melt your tiny brain. In his sixties Alan Moore is wierder and infinitely more warped than any of his contemparies.
Zach, given they’re each pretty much the same series as before with an inexplicable break, I’d just count them as one.
BEST NEW SERIES
Midnighter was the thing I was most excited for and it was so great to see that character get a new lease of life on a fantastic book and I hope it keeps going forever.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Paper Girls. 80’s adolescent girl gang apocalypse. Definitely a series right up my street
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye. House to Astonish put me on to this one and it very quickly became my favourite thing. I’ve been trying to convince people I know to read it so I have people to talk to about my feelings.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Nimona.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Tom King. Grayson is great, Omega Men is great. The Vision is two issues in and looks like more of the same.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
I have a lot of favourites (Marguerite Sauvage on DC Bombshells, Mikel Janin on Grayson, Chris Burnham on Nameless, Jamie McKelvie on all his stuff were all highlights) but Babs Tarr on Batgirl is consistently the most delightful.
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Jordie Bellaire does the best stuff on SO MANY books.
MOST WANTED
Nimona vol 2.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
I never read any of Hickman’s Avengers and thought Secret Wars was going to drag on forever and interrupt all the books I was enjoying (and to be fair that’s exactly what happened) but it’s been a great read.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
MTMTE #47
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Everyone making and buying and demanding better and more diverse stuff. There has been some really great books this year and I hope it continues.
BEST NEW SERIES
Star Wars (2015- Marvel)
Marvel has really hit off with getting Star Wars back!
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Descender
One young robot’s struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. A rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey that pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling space opera from the creators of Trillium, Sweet Tooth, and Little Gotham.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Batgirl (2011-)
Since the Red-hot creative team Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr take over the book has been nothing, but good.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Batman: Earth One Vol. 2
The Dark Knight Must Answer the Greatest Riddle of All:
Who is Batman?
Change is coming to Gotham City. Between the death of Mayor Oswald Copplepot and the emergence of “the Batman,” a new dawn has begun to shed its light onto the notoriously dark and corrupt city. But even as new Mayor Jessica Dent and her twin brother District Attorney Harvey Dent join in the Dark Knight and Detective Jim Gordon’s crusade against Gotham’s criminal element, a new threat rises-one that enjoys playing a simple game of riddles.
Answer wrong: you die. Answer correctly, and…
The second installment in the #1 New York Times best-selling series BATMAN: EARTH ONE reteams writer Geoff Johns with artist Gary Frank and introduces readers to a bevy of Batman’s most infamous foes-but with unexpected twists and turns that build an all-new, incredible mythology for one of the fictional world’s most popular characters.
FAVOURITE WRITER: Jeff Lemire
FAVOURITE ARTIST: Dan Jurgens
MOST WANTED:
The Private Eye by BKV and Marcos Martin- would love to see more stores in this world…
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Convergence: so many books in this event are good.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Finding out Han Solo had a ex-wife in Marvel’s Star Wars.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
The Private Eye by BKV and Marcos Martin- What a ending!
BEST NEW SERIES
Post Bendis All New X-Men (Marvel Comics) – Old is new again. Dennis Hopeless & Mark Bagley is giving me a young adult X-Men title that is moving at a swifter pace but does not forgetting the character development. Plus I gotta throw an X-title a bone on an X-Men related blog.
BEST ACTUAL SERIES
Descender (Image Comics) – This is much more interesting than any of Jeff Lemire’s DC & Marvel work this year. Dustin Nguyen is applying the style he used with Lil’ Gotham to a genre I really enjoy (sci-fi).
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Batgirl (DC Comics) – Each month Batgirl delivers 20 pages of story and not just a television segment.
BEST ONE-SHOT/OGN
Fables issue 150/Vol. 22 – Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham lands the plane.
FAVORITE WRITER
Brian K. Vaughn (Saga, We Stand on Guard, Paper Girls, The Private Eye, and Barrier – A writer who is able to get me to sample any title he writes regardless of whether or not I add it to my pull list.
FAVORITE ARTIST
Greg Capullo (Batman) – He keeps bringing his ‘A’ game whether it is bloody & brutal Batman (Bruce Wayne)/Joker fights to Bat Mech/Chappie to fights involving sharks.
FAVORITE COLORIST
Matthew Wilson (Daredevil, Phonogram, The Wicked + The Divine, and Thor) – His color art is always a buffet for the eyes.
MOST WANTED:
Convergence Shazam (DC Comics) – Two issues of this fun romp through Fawcett City and the Marvel Family was not enough, especially if it is by Jeff Parker and Evan Shaner. IMO – Convergence Shazam was the strongest Convergence title (main or mini-series). I would take Parker and Shaner doing an ongoing DC title period!
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE:
Thors (Marvel) – Since most of the Convergence mini-series were duds (IMO) and my track record with Marvel event mini-series was rough, I initially wrote off Thors. However the more I saw the more I enjoyed the Top Tening of Thor!
STIFF DRINK:
The Wicked + The Divine (Image) – Issue #11, mic drop!
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT:
Tom King (Grayson, Omega Men, Robin War, The Sheriff of Babylon, and The Vision) –King and Seeley’s Grayson continues to be solid entertaining book. He was also able to get this reader to sample new titles such as Omega Men and The Vision.
BEST NEW SERIES
Archie – Even though I’ve been reading comics since 1988, I had never read any Archie comics (or Phantom) on principle because they weren’t ‘real comics’ (read: superhero). I picked up #1 because of Fiona Staples and maybe Waid. And I loved the talking to camera, breaking the fourth wall, style. The characters looked and acted like modern teens while still retaining their looks from the classic comics. A really well done series so far, although…. there’s some concerns about Staples leaving so early.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Does Silk count? Like the opening award, Spiderman comics just haven’t ever been on my reading radar, but this year I’ve jumped back into comics and picked up Silk. Despite the slightly odd way of cramming her into continuity, Cindy Moon is a great character who really works the ‘fish out of water’ trope well, bringing in some clever comments on modern society (since she has been locked in a bunker for a decade). I like the way Silk is tied to the Spiderman comics but is also striking out on her own with her own supporting cast and storylines.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
I think my favourite read at the moment is Gotham Academy. The ‘Scooby gang’ feel to the cast, the emphasis on school-based mysteries and the interesting nods to established Gotham characters is making this a great comic to pick up every month (and I am by no means a DC fan generally. X-Men all the way!)
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
I’m going to sneak in Magneto here. Probably not a mini, but it’s no longer ongoing, and it wrapped up really well like a mini or OGN should do. It was a great series which delved into Magneto’s established past and forged it into something workable. And given that Bunn is continuing to work with Magneto in the Uncanny series of next year, I think the work done in the Magneto series will be carried on and further entrenched. Finally made Magneto and interesting character to me, and I’m a long time fan.
FAVOURITE WRITER
G. Willow Wilson gets my vote here because of Ms Marvel. She keeps writing good stories with Kamala, despite being more and more thrust into continuity/cross-over Hell. I think Marvel is putting too much pressure on Wilson (and Khan), so I don’t hold out too much hope that Wilson’s writing will keep me over excited in 2016, but I really think she is doing well considering the pressure she’s been put under to carry a lot of Marvel’s PR duties and expectations.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Fiona Staples. If she could write an X-Men comic I think the world would be a perfect place. She has great facial expressions, unique characters and an ability to actually draw backgrounds. I love her.
FAVOURITE COLORIST
Hmm, maybe Dan Brown for his work on Magneto. He definitely added to the overall tone of the book through his palette.
MOST WANTED
Not sure I’ll give an award here. As a mostly-Marvel reader I’ve got plenty of new titles to trial in the coming months, so while I am really hoping for some good X-Men comics (Most Wanted) I’m actually quite confident I’ll get some. Maybe I’ll just say I want to see a comic with a good, well-thought-out version of Havok in it since he’s my favourite X-Man. (Let’s forget Axis). Or maybe a Peter David return to X-Factor, but in the Jamie Madrox style rather than the Serval Industries style.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Extraordinary X-Men. I was nervous and excited about this comic, but when #1 came out my heart sank. I thought it’d proven the conspiracy theorists right about shunting the X-Men out of the Marvel Universe…. BUT, #2 and #3 have given me hope. I think that sending the X-Men to Limbo (er, X-Haven) the writers have tipped their heads to X-Men continuity a bit here. Limbo is well-established in the X-Books and has its good and bad points, and the time I started reading X-Men was when the main team was considered dead and was living out of a ghost town in Outback Australia. This kind of reminds me of that time – they will still have an impact on the world and carry out adventures/missions./rescues etc., but they have been removed from the Mansion and the normal world. It can make for some interesting character development, IMO, and I’m in a pretty positive mindset about it.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
I can’t really think of anything at the moment, although The Vision comes to mind. The set up was very suburban, white picket fences, but with a macabre kind of overlay. The surprise at the end of the issue was in the tradition of comic books, but it did take me by surprise. Wouldn’t make me pick up a stiff drink though, but my mind is a little blank on this one.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Okay, so I’ll be giving this to the X-Men team because despite all the hoo-hah over Fox Studios, Inhuman copycats and overly-long ‘not much is happening’ storylines, I think the (non)reboot of 2015-2016 has a good chance of bringing the mutants back on track. Extraordinary X-Men has had a good start (after #1), All-New X-Men has a great vibe to it, All-New Wolverine is much more interesting to me than a Logan series, and Uncanny (with Bunn) looks promising too. Maybe, with a Peter David resurgence on X-Factor down the line I’d be happy, happy, happy.
BEST NEW SERIES
Squirrel Girl could have been a one-note joke, but it’s been consistently funny so far.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Did Sex Criminals start this year or last year? Assuming this year…Sex Criminals.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye doesn’t get a lot of attention outside the usual fan circles, but it’s still the best Transformers fiction since at least Beast Wars.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
MODOK Assassin was everything I wanted in a Secret Wars tie-in. It didn’t get bogged down in the setup and it wasn’t wrist-cuttingly depressing. It was just a fun comic from start to finish.
MOST WANTED
Convergence was a pretty big letdown, but I’d love to read some more stories featuring the pre-New 52 JSA.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Wars was the first major crossover in years that didn’t get boring halfway through the event.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
I can’t think of anything that I found all that shocking this year, honestly.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
I’ll throw in another vote for Fables, which had about as satisfying an ending as I could have asked for.
Firstly, for the record:
Sex Criminals started in September 2013.
Southern Bastards is a bad example too — I got the trade of V1 for Christmas last year, it’s definitely 2014 vintage. (April, apparently.) Ody-C and Bitch Planet both had #1s last December. The Fade Out was August 2014.
Does The Private Eye really count, in that it had its first issue online in March 2013?
BEST NEW SERIES
Phonogram: Immaterial Girl.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
I assume Darth Vader’s out but Spider-Gwen is in for this?
Let’s go with Island, to be on the safe side.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
The Wicked and The Divine.
It had two of the best single issues of the year in #11 and #13, while I prefer #8. And this is before we even get to the remix. Or the rave. A string of eleven issues, with barely a missed beat. Incredible.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
2 Brothers, by Ba and Moon.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Kieron Gillen.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Can Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon count as one artist?
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Matt Hollingworth
MOST WANTED
Mind MGMT. I miss Matt Kindt’s art regularly.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Inferno, bizarrely.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Wicked and the Divine for #11
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Got to be Gillen McKelvie, for quality of WicDiv while also producing Phonogram.
Best New Series:
Giant Days
John Alison’s and Lisa Treiman’s College Dramedy was just pure joy for every single issue (I dropped off after Treiman left but good reviews convinced me to come back) – the right mix of character work, physical comedy (issue #3 Dance / Drug mix is the most energetic scene we’ve seen in the whole of comicdom throughout the year) and sheer oddness make this the best of Boom! Already impressive output
Best Actual New Series
Island.
Also the best comic anthology oy the year (sorry Fresh Romance, DHP, 2000AD). Island is the kind of thing Image comics should have been – always offering something fresh in every issue, finding the right mix between familiar faces (Rios, Graham) to guys most of the reader never heard of (Kirkby, Ludroe).
It’s really nice, in this day and age of 5$ single issues, to pay 8$ and get a 100-plus pages of new stuff every issue. Is everything there great? No. But even the stuff that’s not as good is at least unique and interesting.
Best Ongoing Series
The Humans
Pretty much Mad Max: Fury Road distilled to comics form (unlike the terrible comics that actually bore the Mad Max title this year).
Best Mini Series:
The Auteur: Sister Bambi
The second Auteur mini series manges, somehow, to take things even farther than previous mini – this is wild stuff, the bleakest and blackest of humor and the most eye-popping piece of art on the shelf.
Favorite Writer:
BKV
Saga. The Private Eye. We Stand on Guard. Paper Girls. Barrier.
These speak for themselves.
Favorite Artist:
Lisa Treiman (Giant Days).
Only six issues (possibly forever *sniff*), but so good as be incomparable to anybody else – the movement, the designs, the facial expressions, the cartooning… She was basically a superstar from day one.
Favorite colorist:
Luigi Anderson (The Auteur: Sister Bambi).
Most Wanted:
Gamma – By Ulises Farines.
I’m psyched as everyone else for the two Ulises Farines titles we’re getting soon (the new Judge Dredd and the IDW Anthology). But these mean he’ll have less time to draw something as fun, and poppy and out there as this One Shot that combines Western with Pokemon with Aging Drama.
Most Pleasant Surprise
Tom King
For doing with B (Grayson), C (Vision) and Z (Omega Man) list properties the kind of stuff we’d see from Vertigo in the late 80’s rather DC in the early 2010’s.
Stiff Drink Award:
Transformers Vs G.I.Joe #8
The end of that issue is kind of “they can’t do that” moment that I would never buy from any other series. But I kind of believe Scioli will go for it (we’ll see).
Outstanding Achievement:
IDW Transformers Brand.
Making one REALLY good series out of talking giant robots that turn into cars is hard enough, but they have two legitimately GREAT ones (Transformers vs. G.I.Joe and More than Meets the Eye) and two that are just good (Windblade and Transformers) – they just don’t drop the ball.
BEST NEW SERIES
Injection. Warren Ellis is hit or miss with me, but this is a big hit. It’s basically all of his cranky genius characters sitting around a table together. With gorgeous art by Declan Shelvie and groundbreaking color by Jordie Bellaire. What’s not to love?
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Paper Girls. I wasn’t sure I would like this, actually, since I’m apparently one of the few who really disliked We Stand on Guard. The only BKV book I’ve ever really liked is Saga, and this is quite different although it has the same focus on characters in outrageously surreal circumstances which I think is a particular strength of his.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Daredevil. I thought the finale to this one kind of flopped, but the build up was fantastically tense.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Klaus. Hot young Santa tripping on mushrooms, fighting palace guards, and delivering gifts to the poor, deprived kiddies in a medieval village? Yes, please.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Warren Ellis. See above.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Chip Zdarsky. Just the perfect balance between cartoony and realistic on Sex Criminals. So weird, yet so right. And all of the jokes he adds to the backgrounds are hilarious.
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Jordie Bellaire. I’ve liked her work on other books, but I think she’s taking things to a new level on Injection.
MOST WANTED
I was really hoping to see more Nowhere Men in 2015, and I’m happy to hear that it will happen in early 2016. Sadly without original artist Nate Bellegarde, though. I’m not sure the book will be as good without him.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Wars. The last Marvel crossover I read was a looong time ago, but this one was so beautiful. It’s really the art by Esad Ribic that drew me in, but the story’s not bad either. And it’s disconnected enough from everything that went before it that I can read and understand it without having to purchase a million other books.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
There’s a reveal in Injection #5 that made me gasp. I’m telling you all you should be reading this title.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
The Saga team. Still telling stories worth reading because they’re funny, poignant, and exquisitely illustrated. I enjoy every issue, which I can’t say about many long-running comics series I’ve read. Remarkable.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Transformers v. GI Joe. Gets stranger and more shocking with each issue. Unbelievable that these two toy lines would be producing such a variety of well crafted—and specifically in the case of this book, unbelievably wildly creative ongoing storytelling.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
I’d like to offer up Peanuts: A Tribute to Charles M. Schultz as as the stand-alone project I enjoyed most this year. A mix of some of the best cartoonists of our era, from across the field, all doing sincere/fun/crazy homages to the most important comic characters of the previous century. Books like this are often a cash-grab, and while that’s surely the purpose behind it, this tome is a wonderful reminder of why Peanuts is so important. I hope they do a new version every 10 years.
I wish I could nominate HOPELESS SAVGES: BREAK for this award though. I’d waited a decade for this book to come out. And while the story was as good as I’d hoped … I’m sorry, the art, especially when compared to Han Van Meter’s previous series collaborators, just did not hold up.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Ryan North. He proved to be the most adapt writer at the most modern (post-post-modern?) take on characters over the course of his Adventure Time run. Then followed it up by making Squirrel Girl a character who can be the focus and platform for telling stories with a distinctly post-2000 voice. As much as North has used S-G as an ongoing metatextual discussion about shared-universe heroic fiction, he’s also made her more than just a lamp shaded joke, developing her into a character and individual.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Howard Porter. I know there’ve been a lot of more high profile and prestige projects over this year, but Howard Porter’s work on JL3K has been great. Forced to standing in Kevin McGuire’s shadow, he picked up the baton and ran fast in a different direction that gave the book a very distinct visual style. It pays homage the old “old fashioned” storytelling style of Giffen & DeMatteis while fitting in with the New 52 aesthetic and video game inspired look.
MOST WANTED
SUNDOWNERS. I was surprised w/ how much I liked the original mini, and made it a point to get the print trade of the digital-only sequel, which managed to up the best elements of the original run, and add new angles. Sundowners has been badly overlooked (not hard because there is so much good stuff on the market these days), but for fans looking for something different, more complex or darkly humorous, Tim Seeley, Jim Terry have crafted a creepy waking nightmare for readers who want more from their superhero comics.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Six: I don’t know what happened to make those first two issues so bad—they were a disaster—but the post-Convergence ‘reboot’ saved this title. The first arc never wrapped up, but it has been so good since jumping ahead and changing artists that I don’t care to ever revisit the beginning. Simone also deserves extra credit for being able to recapture some of the magic of the pre-Flashpoint magic of her original run. PLUS, bringing back Ralph & Sue Dibny and giving their story a neat new angle. Secret Six has so much going on in it (maybe too much) that there’s always something to keep me interested in its cast.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Gotham By Midnight had a great 12 issue run that ended 2015. It was very nice to see a DC crime/police tale that didn’t have to have Batman hanging all over it. Fawks told a couple of great horror stories set among the human and nearly human inhabitants of Gotham, and made The Specter really unpredictable and horrifying in a way he hasn’t been for years—more dangerous and compelling. Issue #9 had more tension per page and “what the heck is going to happen next” feeling of terror than any Big 2 comic I read this year.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
TIE:
A. PUNKS: The Comic by Joshua Hake Fialkov and art by Kody Chamberlain was a HOOT! Executed entirely in collage with found/copyright free images, this book repurposed photos and british TV series The Young Ones as a Magical Realist roommate comedy where anything could happen—with hilarious results. Chamberlain work stands out, something like this wouldn’t work without the hard work he did making the stiff cut-up figures he made feel animated, and the whole story fun. Not enough people gave this book a chance. (Completed its run in 2015.) Where their more “stately” comics in 2015 that had good art? Yes. Did any of them really push as far as Chamberlain did? Doubtful. Had Punks been an serious tome, it would have been remembered on many more year end lists.
B. Going out on a limb: I’d like to nominate HERE COMES KITTY and ‘art comic’ published by Siglio books. A collage/remix project that uses a Polish propaganda comic as its base. You can read about it here: http://sigliopress.com/book/here-comes-kitty/. If you’re a fan of illustration, collage, graphic design, and think about artistic appropriation at all, it is worth a look. The book itself is nearly complete dadaist nonsense, but still thoughtfully executed and wonderfully packaged. Not for everyone, but to me that part of what makes it an achievement.
STILL WAITING AWARD:
For Dynamite to finish The Shadow series/story from DC by Helfer and Sienkiewicz/Baker started in the late 1980s (Okay, I’m the ONLY person who wants to see that story finished. At least Dynamite has started reprinting it: http://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?PRO=C1606904825)
Best New Series: GIANT DAYS. While I am neither teenage girl nor university student, I’m pretty sure John Allison’s writing and both Lissa Treiman and Max Sarin’s beautiful cartooning manages to capture the essence being a dumb kid with marvelous accuracy.
Best Actually New Series: ARCADIA. Wonderful science fiction premise with its own unique spin. Alex Paknadel and Eric Scott Pheiffer show us both sides of a broken world divided by a global pandemic, and those that are caught in between both sides.
Best Continuing Series: COPPERHEAD. Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski sold us Deadwood in space but have given us so much more. We even got a posse! It’s the most kick ass western that coincidentally happens to take place on an alien planet.
Best Mini, One-Shot or OGN: AIRBOY. Brutally honest and sincere, James Robinson bares it all (both emotionally and… well there are a lot of dicks in this comic) in this amazing tale of Eric Stephenson’s palatial office, brought to life by the insanely talented Greg Hinkle.
Favourite Writer: BRIAN K. VAUGHAN. I love him. He is a man after my own heart… and my wallet judging by his prolific output this year.
Favourite Artist: MIKE DEL MUNDO. I’ve been on his heels since he was mainly a cover artist and it’s been a delight to follow him to interior work. Elektra and Weirdworld were beautiful books, and his continuing work as a cover artist never ceases to amaze me.
Favourite Colourist: NATHAN FAIRBAIRN. Perhaps he didn’t achieve Bellaire critical mass this year, but whenever his work showed up I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Most Wanted: More DEATH VIGIL. Stjepan Sejic’s words and pictures warm the black husk were my heart would be if I had one. Pick up the trade people, it’s a bit pricey, but justified by the fact that its page count is about three trades worth from the big two, it’s huge! And worth every penny!
Most Pleasant Surprise: FRESH ROMANCE. Shout out to Rosy Press for convincing me to read a romance comic for the first time in my life and getting me to love every page.
Stiff Drink Award: One (sometimes several) per every issue of PROVIDENCE. Alan Moore is a messed up dude. You’ll love it, though you probably won’t get a good night’s sleep after.
Outstanding Achievement: The scheduling nightmare that must have been SECRET CONVERGENCE ON INFINITE PODCASTS.
BEST NEW SERIES
Midnighter. DC’s revamp of Stormwatch didn’t do much for me, but as unlikely spin-offs go the character development and approach worked well, with some nicely taut writing to make it one of the few DC books worth bothering with this year.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Ms Marvel. A reboot that didn’t reboot it, but just felt like picking up a second series, a character that’s brilliantly written, and a series with a genuinely different, engaging look and feel to it. What they’ll do if and when GWW moves onto other projects I’ve no idea, but for now it’s a heck of a ride.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl – Don’t think there’s really much that needs to be said there, is there?
FAVOURITE WRITER
Matt Fraction. Might have taken a bit longer than hoped, but Hawkeye got the finish it deserved and Sex Criminals remained quirkily brilliant.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Mike Allred – The beautiful, pulp-esque art on Silver Surfer was remarkable and absolutely captured Slott’s scripts perfectly. Hope he got a nice royalty cheque from the iZombie telly series too.
MOST WANTED
A follow up to SCOIP wouldn’t go amiss – good way to introduce those of us with limited interest/knowledge in comics and comics fandom to a wider world.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
I Hate Fairyland. Name and cover made me shudder when I saw it in Travelling Man, but it was one of the most anarchically brilliant things I’ve read all year.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Every time tiresome self-publicising arsehole Mark Millar makes another game changing pronouncement on the industry, it’s time to crack open the Bruichladdich
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
The Gillan/McKelvie axis – Pulling off WicDev and Phonogram alone would be enough to make a CV glow, let alone everything else they’ve achieved.
BEST NEW SERIES
Squirrel Girl
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Nameless
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
It ended this year, but the Fraction/Aja Hawkeye was damn good.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Airboy. Controversy aside, Hinkle killed it.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Ryan North
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Chris Samnee
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Matt Wilson
MOST WANTED
More Prez, please!
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Prez was excellent satire that looked great!
STIFF DRINK AWARD
The revelation that the lil Justice League was part of the Gentry in the Multiversity Guidebook.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Grant Morrison finished the epic Multiversity, rejoined Burnham on Nameless and wrote a Santa origin all in one year. Pretty diverse lineup.
Edit: actually, if I could, I think I’d change my most pleasant surprise to the Lois and Clark book by Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks. It’s funny, good looking and a breath of fresh air in this youth-obsessed, “cool” new 52.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Invisible Republic- Great art, great colors, intriguing story. Hardman’s story telling is second to none.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Southern Bastards – One of the few books that makes me want to break my “no new monthly issues” rule. I didn’t think Aaron could top Scalped, but if the rest of the series is this strong, Southern Bastards could be his masterpiece.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
The Fade Out – Does this count as a mini? Among the best works by my favorite creative team. Long live the 12 issue maxi-series.
If The Fade Out doesn’t qualify, then I’ll pick the Savage Sword of Criminal One-shot. The magazine variant was one of the few gimmicks I can remember of late that actually added to the story. It was great to dip back into the world of Criminal.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Jason Aaron – Southern Bastards is tops, but Star Wars and Doctor Strange have also been far better than I expected. The Goddamned looks amazing, but alas I’m waiting for the trade.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Chris Samnee – Have you seen his pages? I loved his Daredevil and am excited about the upcoming Black Widow, but I’d really love to see him do some creator owned work.
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Elizabeth Breitweiser – This is a tough one. There’s so many amazing, unique colorists working today, but no one’s work looks like Breitweiser’s.
MOST WANTED
More espionage from Greg Rucka. I just re-read Queen and Country and wish there was more.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Wars. The last six months or so of Hickman’s Avengers seemed to really flounder–partially due to the rotating cast of artists who weren’t particularly to my taste. My expectations for this event book were pretty low, but -honestly- it’s been a pretty fun ride. Cudos to Marvel for letting the creative team finish out the full series without fill-ins.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Stray Bullets \ David Lapham. Lapham brought back maybe the best crime comic of all time after a long hiatus. Since then he’s released 19 (19!!!) new issues. The quality hasn’t dipped. It feels like it picked up exactly where he left off all those years ago.
Alright let’s do this.
BEST NEW SERIES
Archie – Yup. When you gotta drop quality Image books to read Archie, that’s a good sign.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Island Magazine – Gorgeous anthology, can’t wait for that DeForge issue.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
ODY-C – Fraction’s butchering of the Odyssey now also includes Moby Dick, 1001 Nights, and hot-as-hell righteous feminist fury. Firing on all cylinders and every issue improving over the previous one.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT, OR OGN
Scaffold – Super intricate linework.
FAVORITE WRITER
Ryan North – While people like BKV had less consistent years, North’s name has become synonymous with comedy. Whether it’s Adventure Time or Squirrel Girl, or even his Twitter adventures stuck in holes — North is consistently hilarious.
FAVORITE ARTIST
Marian Churchland – Unf, those 8House Arclight issues are to die for. More! More!
FAVORITE COLORIST
Weirdly most of the series I read are all self-colouring artists. I’ll shout Justin Ponsor, Miles Morales looks good.
MOST WANTED
Orc Stain – It’s lovely that Stokoe is doing Godzilla and stuff, but I want more gronches.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Archie – Again. Okay yeah it’s Fiona Staples, it was gonna look good. Sure Mark Waid, it’ll read fine. But damn it I’m more invested to learn about #lipstickincident than universes ending/converging.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Rachel Rising #29 – It was collected this year, it counts. That store scene; maybe 4 pages max, just a few panels, but it hit me like a freight train. If you care AT ALL about history and/or racism, you MUST read this issue. It even works for new readers. In fact I’m gonna reread that scene in a sec to have a lovely little cry.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Brandon Graham – It’s a good year to be a Graham fan. 2 Issues of Multiple Warheads, a guest spot on WicDiv, coordinating the mostly excellent 8House books ánd launching a magazine with Emma Rios. And Prophet’s returning soon, too!
Why aren’t there any “worst of” or “biggest waste of” categories?
I want to vote for Bendis’ X-Men.
Hey Paul and Al, greetings from Montreal, Quebec, Canada!
BEST NEW SERIES
“The Omega Men”. While time will tell whether it will be an ongoing or merely a 12-issue limited series, but the vocal readers that demanded a stay of execution speaks volumes about the quality of this book.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
“Harrow County” is an immersive, slow-creep of a book and the creative team of Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook is one of the the best partnerships on a series this year.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
The second arc of Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini’s “Low” was even stronger than the first. The progression and intersection of Stel,Tajo and Della’s storylines were masterful and Greg Tocchini’s outstanding artwork is not mentioned nearly enough. This is Remender’s most personal and vulnerable work among his 4(!!) creator-owned series for Image.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
“Two Brothers”. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba are simply in another league of graphic story telling.
FAVOURITE WRITER
A coin-toss between Jason Aaron and Tom King for their consistent quality across a breadth of titles this year. Nearly every week, a book by one of them is the first I read in my pull-list. I’m giving the nod (slightly) to Aaron merely on the fact that we’ve seen a greater body of his ongoing series work, while King’s “The Sheriff of Babylon” and “The Vision” are off to very promising starts.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Tyler Crook for “Harrow County”. The Skinless Boy, the ghost skeletons, the Abandoned…every one of his “countless haints” is perfectly conceived. His subtle, visual shifts between Emmy’s perceived innocence and threat make her a fascinating protagonist.
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Tyler Crook yet again for “Harrow County”. His watercolour work was simply stunning.
MOST WANTED
A creator-owned ongoing series by Steve Orlando. I think “Midnighter” and his fantastic OGN “Virgil” have only hinted at his potential.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
“The Vision” by Tom King is the only re-launch title by Marvel that truly felt “All-New, All-Different” to me. A crack of fresh air in room full of stale farts…for the love of God Marvel, take Dan Slott off of Spider-Man already…
STIFF DRINK AWARD
Chloe’s first visit inside the “Clean Room”. Gail Simone really ratchets up the tension through the questioning by Astrid Mueller and Chloe’s sanitization process before the big reveal (and resulting aftermath). Perhaps my favourite single-issue read of the year. A very close runner-up is Della’s choice at the end of “Low” #7…devastating!
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
I have to celebrate 2 outstanding achievements this year. First, to all the comic retailers who continue to provide an inclusive community for all us monthly “analogue” readers, despite the seismic shift to digital and trade paperback releases. A very special thanks to the fantastic staff at Millenium Comics here in Montreal for their deep knowledge, excellent customer service, and all-around friendliness. Second, to the growing diversity among creators contributing to comics this year. Their combined injection of new, creative perspectives made 2015 an exciting year for all comic readers.
Best new series – Giant Days – It’s just as sharp and human and warm as everything else John Allison has written. I read every issue with a big grin on my face
Most pleasant surprise – Invincibendis Iron Man is not yet insufferable, and is actually very funny. We’ll see how long it takes until Bendis outstays his welcome, but so far it’s good.
Most Wanted – Red 10 – It’s nonsense, but it is beautiful nonsense. I can’t explain the story because I’m not entirely sure that it makes any sense, but it does look lush. I’m looking forward to #3 and #4 next year.
BEST NEW SERIES
Giant Days. Great series, with fantastic art. Hilarious too.
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
Injection. With this and Trees, I’m an Ellis fan again.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
WicDiv.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
Does Nimona count? It’s a collection of a webcomic, but it’s basically a OGN.
FAVOURITE WRITER
Ales Kot. I read his Secret Avengers run with Michael Walsh and Matthew Wilson this year; it’s brilliant.
FAVOURITE ARTIST
Erica North
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Jordie Bellaire
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
Secret Wars: Inferno was a lot more fun than I expected.
STIFF DRINK AWARD
That thing that happens in WicDiv 11.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Boom had a great year, IMO. A whole bunch of interesting new series from excellent creators.
New series – Captain America, Sam Wilson – full of call backs and echoes of Mark Gruenwald’s great 80s run, with some fruity Peter David notes. Nice bouquet.
Actually new series – Island. Not all hits but much respect for putting something this chunky and varied out every month (or so)
Continuing series – The Fade Out. So rich and worth re-reading
Best one-shot – secret wars, secret love
Favourite writer – Jason Aaron. Didn’t read all his stuff but Southern Bastards, Weird world and solid work on Star Wars do it for me
Favourite artist – Evan Shaner. A bitty year for Doc, but some great fill-ins, one shots and mini’s. He can do no wrong anyway but his range is expanding in a very satisfying way.
Most wanted – Mark Waid and Evan Shaner on something full-time (ideally Superman)
Most pleasant surprise – Marvel star wars line. Not awful
Outstanding achievement – Dan Slott. Never the flashiest writer, but has kept the plates spinning and kept me coming back for years now. Not worthy of a ‘best of the year’ award, but want to recognise the guy.