Gamblor187

No new comics until Friday and no time to think of a Question of the Week, so this is the perfect time to review the best books of the year.

Due to time constraints, I have left out a few of the regular categories (best inker, colorist, cover artist, etc) and I'm sure to leave a few worthy titles of my lists by mistake. I'll come back and add them later.

All lists are in no particular order.

BEST ONGOING SERIES

The Amazing Spider-Man - J. Michael Strazcynski was born to write this book. It hasn't been this good in ages. New villains and plot twists. Character development. (When's the last time Spier-man had that?) A sense of humor that perfectly fits the title and character. A perfect title. Lots of pretty pictures, too.

X-Force/X-Statix - A controversial, potentially groundbreaking series that's funny as often as it is disturbing. What could have been a gimmick has developed into an excellent book that's sure to keep fanboys debating for years to come.

JSA - An expanded roster and a writer that focuses on characters as much as action keep this one of the best books around.

The Flash - The once-laughable Rogues Gallery continues to expand and improve, becoming the most interesting group of villains in comics today.

100 Bullets - "The Counterfifth Detective" may very well be the best storyline to date and added new energy and creativity to a book that was lacking neither.

Stray Bullets - When a book is so consistently late, it's hard to group it in with other ongoing series, but longtime fans have come to expect the delays (which have gotten better, by the way). David Lapham made a smart move by putting the series on hold last year to make "Murder Me Dead". "Stray Bullets" has become a more focused and even better book.

BEST MINISERIES AND ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVELS

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume 2 - The first three issues were actually on time and absolutely brilliant. The recent delays are frustrating, but I can deal with it as long as the quality keeps up. This series is turning out to be even better than the original.

JLA/JSA: Virtue And Vice - It can't be bad when my only complaint is that it was too short and left me wanting more. Let's hope it's not too long before the next team-up.

20th Century Eightball - Actually, Eightball should be on my list as one of the best series of the year, but it just doesn't come out enough. This TPB takes its place on my list.

BEST WRITER

Geoff Johns - "The Avengers" hasn't yet developed into everything I hoped, but "The Flash" and "JSA" are two of the best books available. Then add "The Thing: Freakshow" and "JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice" to cap off a great year for my favorite writer. (Plus, I got the chance to meet him and he was a helluva guy.)

Peter Milligan - Once a Vertigo also-ran, he has done the impossible in my eyes by make a great "X-book" .... even if it's not really an "X-book".

Warren Ellis - "Mek" was disappointing, as were the absence of "Planetary" (except for the so-so "JLA/Planetary" Elseworlds story). But "Transmetropolitan" ended on a high note and "Global Frquency" looks to be very promising.

Brian Azzarello - He slipped near the end of his run on "Hellblazer", but "!00 Bullets" has been brilliant all year.

BEST ARTIST

John Cassady - His art on "Captain America" is so good that it almost makes the awful writing bearable.

Bryan Hitch - The Hulk versus the rest of The Avengers in "The Ultimates"? Best fight scene ever....or at least in the top five.

Eduardo Risso - An original talent and a perfect match for Brian Azzarello on "100 Bullets"

Mike Allred - Art so good that it makes me forgive him for that dreadful "It Girl" one-shot.

Alex Maleev - The man that helped me get through the never-ending Bendis storylines in "Daredevil".

BEST NEW SERIES

Y:The Last Man - The premise sounds so ridiculous and cliched. Kudos to the creators for not taking the easy way out and making a smart comic that has gotten better with each issue.

Hawkman - After a bumpy start with the mediocre first storyline, this has developed into a very entertaining series. Appearances by Green Arrow and The Atom made for some great stories, as did James Robinson's tale of the old west, which brough to mind his "Times Past" stories in "Starman"


WRITERS/ARTISTS/SERIES DESERVING MORE ATTENTION

Mike Carey - Although I still have to catch up on backissues, "Lucifer" continues to develop and deserves to be more than just a word-od-mouth cult title.

Michael Lark - After years of impressive work in miniseries, we finally get to see his art on a monthly basis in "Gotham Central".

Rags Morales - Never heard of him until "Hawkman", but I'll watch for him now.

Keith Champagne - It wasn't easy to follow Sadowski on "JSA", but he's done a remarkable job.

BEST SINGLE ISSUES

The Flash #182 - Geoff Johns has promised more single issues focusing entirely on a single Rogue (We got The Pied Piper a few months ago) after the success of this issue. This look at Captain Cold was the single best comic I read this year.

Spider-Man's Tangled Web #? - Sorry. I can't remember the issue number, and I don't have the book handy right now. Ted McKeever's "Alphabet City" was a hysterical look at two very lame costumed morons.

MISSING IN ACTION

Planetary - Coming soon, right? Please tell me it's coming soon.

Electropolis - One of my picks for best new series of 2001 disappeared after three issues and the fourth (of what is now a 4-issue miniseries) hasn't even been solicted yet.

ABC Books - "Top Ten" is gone. "Tom Strong" is a good read, but it rarely comes out. "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is delayed after only three issues. Who knows what happened to the anthology title. (It's been so long the the name has slipped my mind.) The only ABC book that seems to come out on a regular basis is "Promethea". And that's the only one I don't like.

Miracleman - Curse you Todd McFarlane!!!!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

Brian Michael Bendis - I've covered this just about every week since the weekly thread returned, so no need to add more.

Captain America (Writing Only) - The art is astounding, but the dialogue and "ripped from the headlines" stories are an overwritten, simplistic, silly, mess.

MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS FOR 2003

Shade, The Changing Man - Vertigo finally releases the first (of what I hope will be many) TPB of Peter Millian often brillaint, but always overlooked series. Plus, we get a new Shade story by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred.

JLA/Avengers - Why did this take so long??? Did they think that there was no demand??? I don't want to get too excited because it could suck. But with George Perez doing the art at least it will look good.

The reurn of Neil Gaiman??? - He's got a top secret project at Marvel and some new Endless stories for Vertigo. Welcome back, Neil! It hasn't been the same without you.

I encourage everyone to post their own lists and comments....even those that don't contribute to the weekly threads.

jim

The Antipodean

Yay! Year-end lists! I loves the year-end lists! I hesitate to use the word "best" because IMHO it's all subjective anyway, so here's my ramblings...

FAVORITE BOOK
Ultimate Spider-Man - This book makes me feel like Stern and Romita Jr's "Amazing Spider-Man" run did back when I was a kid in the early 1980s. Constantly surprising and always genuine, it takes "reinvention" back from being the dirty word too many "Heroes Reborn" type fiascos turned it into. While the Green Goblin arc wasn't the book's best, the Chamelon one and the Venom one that's just begun are as strong as ever, and the Doc Ock/Kraven arc featured the funniest anti-climactic fight scene I've ever read. Bendis really knows what the essence of Spider-Man is, and he's not afraid to stretch the boundaries. Bagley's always professional art is a real pleasure when too many other artists (cough cough Frank Quitely) can't manage a deadline. And the cliffhangers in this book - yow! It makes me wish it were a daily publication, and I can't praise a book higher than that.

RUNNERS-UP
The Ultimates - (if this came out more often, it'd probably be #1. It's got all the plusses of Millar's "Authority" and "Ultimate X-Men" work with much less of the flaws. I'm dying for the "special edition" hardcover I'm sure lurks on the horizons.)
Y: The Last Man 2002's best new comic by far, it takes an idea that could've been cliched and gives it new life. With an appealing main character and an endless fountain of possibilities, I'm eager to see where it goes next.
Amazing Spider-Man I gave up reading Spidey for years sometime around the McFarlane era, but today I'm buying four monthly books. This and "Ultimate" are the cream of the crop, and JMS has actually found something new to say about the character after all these years. John Romita's art is a treasure, too.
JSA - "Old style team heroics" at their finest.
X-Statix - One of the most original comics in years, and it's a "mutant" book. Who would've thought?
Alias

RUNNERS-UP TO THE RUNNERS-UP
Black Panther
Powers
Flash
Spider-Man: Blue
Daredevil
Captain Marvel
Green Arrow

MOST PROMISING NEW BOOKS
The Filth
Global Frequency

WHY DON'T THEY COME OUT MORE OFTEN?
Eightball
Optic Nerve
Black Hole
Love & Rockets

COUNTING THE DAYS 'TIL IT ENDS
Cerebus just is kind of sad these days. I've been buying this book since #80 or so nearly 20 years ago, but I stick with it now only out of loyalty, and that damn fanboy completism sense. It last engaged me years ago, and Sim's rants and tangents lost me a long time back. Just 15 or so issues until #300, and I can spend my money on something else each month. I just hope he makes some attempt at a closure for a character I have grown to enjoy reading. If any creator other than Dave Sim had done this series and the accomplishment of nearly 300 monthly issues entirely written and mostly drawn by him, it'd be read about in major magazines and seen as a touchstone of the medium. But Sim's misogynism and paranoia have kept him on the fringes of everything, and there's no one but himself to blame.

FAVORITE WRITER
This year, nobody entertained me more than Brian Michael Bendis. There's better writers out there -- Moore, Vaughan, but I still think Bendis has the knack for realistic dialogue, great cliffhangers and 'reinvention' without destroying what's great about a character. His best book is "Ultimate Spider-Man," while right now, "Daredevil" is his least entertaining to me (hopefully it'll pick up though). His biggest flaw, that he's writing in pacing for trade paperbacks, and sometimes, particularly with "Daredevil" or some of his "Powers" work, it just is TOO drawn out. But I never get bored reading his work, and am eager to see what he does next.

MOST UNDERRATED BOOK
Alias is a real gem. Jessica Jones is one of the best-written women in comics, with new complexities being revealed all the time. This book really earns its mature readers label by taking a street-level look at the Marvel Universe with stories that are sometimes open-ended and avoid closure -- just like the 'real world.' I wish more people would pick this up; it's a great detective book, often hilarious and occasionally touching, with one of comics' most human characters as its center.

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENTS
New X-Men is good. But could be great. Part of it is the horrible, stupid 'rotating' cast of artists this book has, none of whom share similar styles. Quesada should've stuck his hand in long ago and kicked Quitely, the so-called "regular" artist (who managed, what, 3? 4? issues this year) off the book, and put someone one who could meet monthly deadlines. Morrison's stories require a singular vision, like his "Animal Man" and "Doom Patrol" had in their steady, if not flashy artists. The rushed, often sloppy look this book has had is a big obstacle to it being what it could be. Morrison's stories are also getting more and more half-hearted, unlike his truly entertaining work in "The Filth." Prediction for 2003: Morrison's gone by the end of the year, and the "X" books begin their slide back into mediocrity.
Runner-Up: "The Dark Knight Strikes Back." Need I say more?

FAVORITE TRADE PAPERBACK
Man o man o man, I love Dark Horse Comics' fancy-schmancy Star Wars: A Long Time Ago "phone book" reprints of the Marvel Comics series that first got me into this addiction. The first three are beautifully reproduced stories I grew up on, and still love today. I sold my comics to buy food a few years back and am so glad to have them in a more permanent format. The "recoloring" is astoundingly good; I've held a copy of "Star Wars" #50 the original shoddily printed comic and the reprint side-by-side and it's like night and day. Gorgeous, gorgeous books, and fairly affordable at $30 per 300-page full-color book. Can't wait for the final four volumes next year!
Runner-Up: "Beg The Question" hardcover from Fantagraphics, which reprints Bob Fingerman's great "Minimum Wage" comics, with a new ending that eliminates the rushed, unsatisfactory conclusion the original comics had.

BOOK EVERYONE ELSE LOVES THAT I JUST DON'T GET
100 Bullets I've tried. I've bought the first two TPBs and several single issues, and this book does nothing for me. All I see is a standard issue crime book, and Azzarello's writing has never engaged me. I love good crime - "Stray Bullets" for instance, and classic EC crime are among my favorite comics EVER -- but I've given this book a few shots and just don't see what the fuss is about. Oh well, the last thing I need is ANOTHER title to collect anyway...

BEST 'COMICS IN THE REAL WORLD' MOMENT:
"Spider-Man" the movie. Quibble if you want, but from Tobey Maguire's ace performance to Willem DaFoe's unexpected depth, with solid special effects and real heart, this move was so much better than I ever imagined it could be. Bring on "X-Men 2" and "Hulk"!

The Antipodean

What, nobody else has anything to add?

Josh-da-man

Scuttlebutt is that Morrison will be leaving NXM around (if not at) #150. Marvel really bothced this one by not getting a reliable art team. I really like Quitely's art, but going into I knew there was not way he could handle a monthly book. Marvel editorial should've known this, too. At least that way, they could've done rotating teams, like an arc for Quitely, and arc for Van Scriver, and an arc for Phil Jiminez (if he was availalbe). Would've worked out better because then GM could've possibly tailored his stories to each artist's strengths. From what I've heard, it was quite a scramble to get the artwork done on time and poor Igor Kordey had to pencil issues on very short notice.

As for the "X" books "begin their slide back into mediocrity," I don't think the bulk of them ever really left. With the exception of NXM and X-FORCE/X-STATIX, they're all pretty bad. Casey's UNCANNY was just painful to read. All "Poptopia" did was rehash a bunch of Claremont's 1980s New Mutants plots. Huge dud. I don't think I've heard anything nice about Wolverine under Tieri's pen, but that title is due for a makeover and new #1 with Greg Rucka and Darick Robertson, so that might be worth a look. (With the exception of the Claremont/Buscema, Peter David, and Goodwin/Byrne runs on Wolverine in the early days, the title has been a consistent POS.) Claremont's X-TREME X-MEN isn't as bad (to me, at least) as most make it out to be, but I don't really have any desire to read it, but I'd still probably prefer it to the newly manga-ized UNCANNY.

Sessa17

Nope, just too busy around this time of year to things like read my comics or get to the computer.

Anyway I seem to have very different taste than most in this thread. So here are my pickes for the best of 2002. But with so many comics coming out every week, I'm sure I'm forgetting some great stuff that came out in the beginning of the year.

Best New Series - Catwoman : Quite frankly, It's not even debatable, there really is not one comic being published today that is as consistantly good as Catwoman. And the most amazing part is I'm not a Catwoman fan or Batman fan. Brubaker & Cooke recreated a B level character who is not even worthy to have her own comic & gave her a completely different twist & a supporting cast that rivals any established mainstream character that has been around for 50 years. And w/ the VERY underrated Cameron Stewart taking over on art, the book has a look that is unique from any other comic being published today.

Runner Up - Hawkman, Agent X.


Best Mini-Series or One-Shot - Beatiful Killer - I feel like I'm forgetting somoe really good mini-series that came out, but since this one sticks out in my mind first, it at least get's my favorite mini-series vote. 1: B/c of Phil Noto's AMAZING painted art. 2: B.c I usually HATE stories about female spies & I think the spy genre in general is very tough to do something original in & this creative team succeeded.

Runner Up: Hellboy: The Third Wish, High Roads.

Best Original Graphic Novel - Creature Tech - Bar none, the truly most original, inventive comic book to come out all year. Anyone who hasn't bought this & read it should be ashamed of themselves & is not a true comic book fan.

Runner Up: Selina's Big Score - This was actually my favorite comic book to come out all year, but I'm voting for best.

Most Overrated Comic book - Daredevil: DD is my all-time favorite super-hero so this is not coming from someone who does not like DD. But quite frankly this comic book Sucks. And I think people are blind to not realize that. Maleev's art is bland & completely redundant. Every single comic looks exactly the same. And more annoying every single issue feels the same thanks to Bendis's long drawn out stories that go nowhere & do nothing to add to the character or direction of this comic. Where are the new characters, where is the bold new direction that was promised?

Runner Up - ABSOLUTELY ANY ULTIMATE TITLE!

Most Improved Comic of 2002 - The Mighty Thor : Currently along w/ Catwoman this is the book I look forward to every single month. And again, this is a character I never cared for. Jurgens has taken a very old & established character that most creators failed to do anything new with. And unlike Bendis, who seems scared to do anything different with an established character, in the past year, he has killed his father, made Thor the Lord of Asgard, gotten rid of his human persona, & brought Asgard down to Earth while Thor has taken the problems of earth into his own hands. And 2003 is promised to be even more exciting. Everyone should be reading this book.

Runner Up - Powers (I was about to drop this book untill the Walker quiting story line)

Best on-going monthly of 2002 - The Legion : Every single month this book never lets down. Every single last page almost always contains a twist or a shocking conclusion out of left field. The book has without a doubt the largest cast in all of comic yet DnA do an amazing job of having each character fleshed out. And the scale of every single story arc rivals any superhero comic being published. And when most comics are hurt by fill-in artists that don't live up to the regular penciler, Kev walker has done a fantastic fill-in job on the issue the amazing Olivier Coipel cannot do.

Runner Up - Catwoman, Queen & Country.


The next big thing in 2003 - OLIVIER COIPEL : I've been preaching this guys work for the past 5 years. And with him finally landing a big book spot as regular penciler of the Avengers, I garaunty he is the next artist to join the ranks of Lee, Madurera, Campell, as the elite artist in comics that every geeky fanboy wants on their book. He is that good.

Runner Up - Frank Cho entering mainstream comics - If your like me, you can't get enough of the guy's art, but those annoying little animals ruin most of the work he has done. But putting Cho on a Marvel Max title that promises lots of female nudity is genius & I predict his Shana series will be one of the biggest most talked about comics of the year.

BJacks

Here's our extensive list of the year's best:
http://www.slushfactory.com/content/...FEBLnSVGHl.php

Our top 10 are:
Vogelein, Supernatural Law, Ruse, Negation, Fade From Blue, Y: The Last Man, Catwoman, 100 Bullets, 9-11, Three Fingers.

The picks are those of the article's writer, and may not reflect mine. Personally, I thought Slow News Day by Andi Watson was great, as was Golem's Mighty Swing (which may have come out in 2001, not sure).

-Brian