The Best of 2011: Comics

Snapper Carr:

Breakout Character: Roy Harper: Before the new 52, Roy Harper was many things. He was a cat killer, a villain and a drug addict. Let’s flash forward to the New 52. He is a drunk, kind of a dick, and really funny but at the end of the day he really just wants to be a hero. After attempting to be killed by Killer Croc, he pulled himself together and got Waylon James (a Batman Villain) as his A.A sponsor, attempted to liberate an evil Middle Eastern government and slept with his sort of best friend’s girl. Roy Harper is far from being a perfect character but definitely one of the most interesting characters in comic books.

Biggest Disappointment: Supergirl. Yes, I loved most of 52 but there was plenty of trash that I read. Here are a few titles: Supergirl, Green Arrow and Stormwatch. I expected so much from Supergirl because I figured the origin would be different and wouldn’t be the normal, “Oh her shipped crashed on Earth and she is confused and lost and that is the end of issue one”. Ugh…..that is exactly what happened. Issue one and issue two consisted only of fight scenes and zero character development. To me that is pretty boring. If I could redo the first couple of issues, I would do it without the suit and I would do it on Krypton. It would give the reader a better introduction to who Kara is and what she will become. The point of 52 is to be new and exciting, the 52 Supergirl we were given is boring and stale.

Best Company: DC Comics. Through 2010 and mid-way through 2011, comics were not doing it for me. Comics were too fast of a read and I was getting bored easily. For years, I was a huge fan of DC Comics but up until last year that began to fade. When 52 happened it changed everything. 1) My wallet had less cash in it. 2) DC was kicking ass again. Many complained that DC was only doing it for the money. I can’t deny that but I want to believe that maybe they did it for the fans also. Pre-52: Besides Green Lantern and Batman, the rest of the DC Universe sucked. Superman complained about not feeling human enough, Wonder Girl kept flip flopping on whether or not she was the right leader for the Teen Titans and the Justice League was full of B and C rated superheroes. The final months of 2011 put an end to all that bullshit. The Superman we all know and love is finally back, Aquaman is cool, and those that voted to kill Jason Todd realized they were wrong.

Best Artist: Joe Eisma. This was a tough choice. First off, I am going to explain why I didn’t pick Jim Lee. Justice League Issue four’s art was a little sloppy. The final match was Kenneth Rocafort, Red Hood and the Outlaws vs Joe Eisma, Morning Glories. At first I wasn’t the biggest fan of Rocafort’s art. The images of the people in the background always seemed a bit off. However, I began to notice the brilliance in his art. I’ve noticed the incredible skill in the characters’ expressions. The movement of the lips and eyebrows really added an element to the story-telling. Dear Joe Eisma, please do more books! Thanks- all your fans. Eisma’s artistic skills bring a truly important element to Morning Glories. The face expressions, the body movement, the architectural and landscape details are flawless. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an artist draw vomit and Joe Eisma nailed it. The winner is Joe Eisma.

Best Writer: Geoff Johns.This started out as Battle Royale: Jason Aaron vs Geoff Johns vs Brian Michael Bendis vs Scott Lobdell vs Grant Morrison vs Robert Kirkman. And the winner is… Geoff Johns. Let me state some facts for you. In less than a decade he brought back Hal, Barry and he made Booster Gold a true hero. But, in 2011 he made Sinestro a Green Lantern again. Let’s not forget, he did the unthinkable. Somehow, he made Aquaman a really cool superhero. For the last three years, the Justice League of America was full of wannabes. Thank Rao for that not being the case anymore.  Geoff Johns brought back the Big Six! I say six because I’m not sure how I feel about Cyborg being on the team.

Best Single Issue: The Amazing Spider-Man #672. When I learned about “Spider-Island” I thought meh. Jeez, I was 100% wrong. The entire story arc was magnificent. Everyone in NYC got spiderpowers, Dan Slott brought back Kaine, and MJ said those three words that guys freak out at.  My Best Single Issue of 2011 is The Amazing Spider-Man #672. Have you ever read a conclusion of a story arc and be utterly disappointed with? Me too, it happens a lot!!! That was not the case with this issue. It was clever, fun, and ended on a high note. Mid-way through “Spider Island”, there were rumors spreading that Ben Reilly was being brought back from the grave but Slott shocked us all with Kaine. For years, Kaine has been decaying but he fell into some kind of gunk and now looks exactly like Peter. With Kaine normal and fighting along aside Spidey, it was fun reading their back and forth witty rapport. If you are a Spider fan you know about “Parker luck” aka, life sucks. In one of the few times in his life, he saved everybody and no one died. By the way, I loved when Mary Jane told Peter she loved him but since he was in the moment, he was deaf to it. By the way, Mary Jane > Gwen Stacy.

Best Overall Comic Book: Invincible. It took me a few hours to decide on this one. I went through Dan Slott’s The Amazing Spider-Man, Grant Morrison’s version of Superman and Robert Kirkman’s Invincible. I decided on Invincible because it’s the best superhero comic book in the universe. As readers, we are so used to the writers never really developing the character and doing the same story over and over again with little tinkering. Mark Grayson aka Invincible could be the most flawed superhero of all time. In 2011, Mark and his father went to war own with their own species (the Viltrumites). The war ended with a stalemate. The Earth was saved and the Viltrumites were allowed to breed with humans. While he was at war, his girlfriend had an abortion. Most recently, Mark decided to a free Dinosaurus (a villain who blew up Las Vegas) because he believed he was right in doing so. According to teasers, Mark will no longer be Invincible in 2012.

Gabriel Partridge:

Breakout character: Vincent Morrow (Witch Doctor). This new Image (on the Skybound imprint) comic is so fresh in the comic world. It is equal parts hilarious and gruesome. It’s Fringe, meets Doctor Who with just the right amount of grotesquery thrown in. He has the charming wit of David Tennant version of the Doctor with the Frankenstein-ian madness of Walter Bishop on Fringe. Pretty damn good mix for me.

Biggest Disappointment:  Mark Waid’s Daredevil. As a huge Daredevil fan, I was really pumped for this comic. I was excited to see Daredevil returning to his non-emo days. Recently, he’s been a kind of woe-is-me whiner (although I did really like Daredevil Reborn) and I was looking forward to seeing Matt get back to his good old days.  I suppose they kind of got him back to that version of Matt but that was really about all they did for me.  They spent too much time on the Jobrani court case (Matt being a lawyer, is admittedly a big part of the comics, but I guess it just doesn’t really do it for me anymore) and not enough time with Daredevil thrashing villains. While it definitely wasn’t an awful series, it just sort of left me with a “meh”, unsatisfied feeling.

Best Company: DC. It’s really hard not to talk about DC’s New 52.  They did a really incredible marketing move this year with the New 52. Love it or hate it, we all bought it. It helped reintroduce a lot of old fans back into comics and brought in a whole slew of new ones. There were a lot of less than perfect issues introduced this year with the New 52 but there were a helluva lot of good-to-awesome new titles. All-Star Western, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Red Hood and the Outlaws , Justice League, Batman, Green Lantern and Detective Comics made the whole thing worthwhile.

Best Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key): Three words: Hoooo Leee Shit. Gabriel Rodriguez is an unbelievable artist. Rodriguez and Joe Hill really are the absolute perfect balance of a wonderful writer paired with a shockingly (and I mean “shockingly” in every sense of the word, given some of those incredibly bloody, gruesome scenes) outstanding artist. They come together to make the best comic I have ever read (and I really don’t mean to be gushing with my love for this comic, but I really can’t help it).I’ve always been one to feel that good art is just to accompany the more important: good writing. Gabriel Rodriguez made me completely change my POV. The art to this comic is so important that if a lesser artist were to do it, Joe Hill’s brilliant writing would be completely lost to its audience.  A great story is one thing, so many comics have a great idea or a great writer, but to be able to pair that with a truly impeccable artist like Rodriguez? Well, that’s one in a million.

Best Writer: Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Swamp Thing, Batman, Severed) Is this guy serious with the year he’s had? He’s doing one of the best ongoing series out right now in American Vampire. It’s such a brilliant and unique take on the vampire genre that’s become so popular and bogged down with tweeny romance bullshit . Swamp Thing is one of the bright lights of DC’s New 52, and is a pretty damn cool take on classic muddy monster. Severed is one of those rarities. It’s part mysterious, part horror, and all addicting. Snyder’s Batman is one of the top 5 New 52 titles. It (as well as Detective Comics) have done a good job of getting back to Bat’s detective roots. Every issue is a mystery in Snyder’s Batman. He’s also created a pretty sweet mysterious villain in Talon. Everything this man does keeps me on the edge of my seat and wanting to read more.

Best Single Issue:  Morning Glories #11. This is such a freaking cool comic. As one of the biggest fans of Lost you’ll ever find, this comic is right up my alley. It’s so goddamn, frustratingly, yet satisfyingly confusing. It always keeps me guessing and scratching my head. This issue in particular was satisfying. In a series that gives you so many question and cliffhangers, this one gave you a few answers (as well as a fucking awesome question/cliffhanger). We finally got to know a little about the little douchebag Ike, which got the audience to understand exactly why we should hate him (or be intrigued by why he’s even included in this group). It’s rare for me to like an entire issue that’s based on a character that I hate but this one was incredible. It delved into the past of the character and left us with one of the best cliffhangers/twists in recent comics: the imprisoned man and the man we were supposed to think Ike killed in the beginning of the issue, is revealed to be Ike’s seemingly deceased father, and one of the most mysterious characters in the comic, Abraham.

Best Overall Comic: Locke & Key. I really cannot say enough good things about this comic. As I mentioned before Gabriel Rodriguez really does some of the best art I’ve ever seen. The finale to Keys to Kingdom (Detectives, Part 2) did exactly what any good ongoing series should do: leave us wanting more. It was a great conclusion to a great story arc and left me itching for the next story. I really am just waiting for this series to fail and disappoint me because nothing can be this awesome for this long but it really continues to do just that. My favorite issue of the series (and possibly favorite issue of the year) was the opening issue to Clockworks; The Locksmith’s Son. We finally got the awesome flashback to Locke kid’s predecessors in 1775 and the inception of the keys, which was fuckin’ sweet. In my Best of 2011 post I really, truly and wholeheartedly, could have used Locke & Key for it all. And I mean Every. Single. Category. (with my  biggest- nay, only disappointment being that it has a timeline for an end date). I had to struggle to not use Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s incredible series as my best of for everything in this post, because, while they deserve it, what fun would that be?

Don't forget to vote on our poll: Best Comic of 2011!

The Year-end Review of the New 52.

In 2011, the biggest thing to hit the comic book world was the New 52. The announcement of 52 new titles from DC (some of them reboots of age old series, some being new origins, some new series altogether) was unquestionably awesome. Some big things happened in the new 52: Barbara Gordon is out of her wheel chair, Superman’s red undies are now presumably beneath the tights, Sinestro is fighting against his own Corps, Barry Allen is no longer married to Iris (oh, and Where’s Wally?), Cyborg has finally made it into the Justice League, Superboy got a new origin, and somehow Geoff Johns made Aquaman cool again. But, as expected, the New 52 has been met with mixed reviews. When you publish that many new titles, you’re bound to have some hits and some misses. Most critics agree that Animal-Man, Action Comics, O.M.A.C, Swamp Thing and Aquaman got the job done. However, a lot of the new releases haven’t been quite as well received. Hawk and Dove, DC Universe Presents: Deadman, Red Hood and the Outlaws (wired.com) and The Fury of Firestorm (MTV Geek) all got sub-par ratings from critics.

The New 52 was undoubtedly a truly inspired marketing move. Whether you hated the idea or loved it, you bought some of these comics, just so that you could voice your opinion on how they did with their reboot. Starting fresh is always an appealing move. It makes die-hard fans buy the comics so they can say how they feel about it and it also lures in new fans because it makes the titles approachable and easy to start with.

Just as the critic’s opinions vary about how well DC did on their reboot so do we here at The Illumi-Nerdi:

Snapper Carr:  First of all, thank you 52. Since 1993, I have been a fan of comic books. I felt alone in loving comics. But after the new 52 came out, I was no longer alone. Now, two of my friends are huge fans of comic books just because of DC’s reboot. Out of all the new 52, I read 33. I love some of the titles and others bore me. My favorite comic so far is Action Comics. Superman is young and an amateur. He is not that powerful and his marriage to Lois has been made void. The most underrated comic book of the new 52 is Red Hood and the Outlaws. Yes, Starfire isn’t the one from the Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans but she is much of a badass as her counterparts.  When Connor Kent died I was sad and when he returned I was so excited for comic books again. After reading the first issue, I can’t wait to see the development of an emotionless new Superboy. I was soooo excited for Grifter but by the end I found his origin to be mundane. It simply lacked excitement. For the last 30 years, there have been so many Supergirls. Some origins have been interesting, others have sucked. The new 52 Supergirl is boring and lame. The first two issues were an entire fight scene. I expected a fresh origin story but what I got just made me fall asleep. My least favorite comic was Stormwatch. I felt so thrown into a conflict that I was unfamiliar with. Also, I was disappointed with Martin Manhunter being on the team. He is the soul of the Justice League and he is on a team with known murderers. What a bummer…

 

Gabriel Partridge: My favorite new title is All-Star Western. I got this on a whim at the last minute when it came out and was instantly, pleasantly surprised. I didn’t expect all of the awesome references to Gotham. Seeing Arkham, hearing about the Waynes and Mayor Cobblepot, were pretty cool little references. Plus, it has been a pretty damn cool murder mystery with Jonah Hex, a pretty underrated character. I also loved Detective Comics. It hasn’t quite been universally well received but I think it’s fantastic. The Dollmaker is a freaking awesome original villain. He has the chaos of the Joker but the brilliant planning of Lex Luthor. Tony Daniel weaves a genuinely well done mystery yarn with the world’s greatest detective. I thought Deadman was also underappreciated. First of all, it’s a pretty cool concept, but that’s nothing new. Second of all, I really like what they’re doing with him. Boston Brand going against the god, Rama and trying to take a little more control of his own destiny is pretty damn cool. In keeping with the Justice League Dark theme, Hellblazer seemed to be an influence here, and that’s a pretty damn good lead to follow. 

So far, I’ve really liked Justice League also. It’s a completely new origin story, with genuinely likable characters. I’ve never been the biggest Green Lantern fan but Hal was pretty funny in the first few issues. I also love that Cyborg has finally been included in JLA. I like the hint at the metamorphosis of Victor Stone into Cyborg in the most recent issue. That being said, I’ve been pretty disappointed in most of the Superman titles. Action Comics has been a complete let down to me. I guess I just found the story really uninteresting and unexciting. It really didn’t do it for me. Superboy was also a really boring story. Half of issue one, Superboy was in a tank, the other half didn’t even actually happen.

            In keeping with the “52” theme, our combined score of the reboot is a 37 out of a possible 52. Even though we at The Illumi-Nerdi disagree on many of the titles, we’re definitely happy the New 52 happened. It has revitalized comics in a way that we can only hope Marvel can follow in 2012. Check out our post next week when we argue the validity and need for Marvel to reestablish itself in 2012. 

The Illumi-Nerdi's Top Ten Heroes Lists

Snapper Carr's Top Ten Heroes List

10. Jack from Lost: Should you really question this? From the very first episode, you loved Jack. He never thought about himself and only those around him. He saved the world by defeating the Smoke Monster.

9. Kyle Rayner from especially Green Lantern: New Guardians: No, I was never a Hal Jordan fan growing up because Kyle was MY Green Lantern. Before you start judging me, think about what Kyle did. He was the last ring holder and he saved the Green Lantern Corp. Also, he didn’t cry/bitch when Hal came back, he knew the Corp would only be stronger than ever before.

8. Peter Petrelli from Heroes: Maybe it’s just me but Peter reminds me of Tim Tebow. Peter wasn’t perfect but he tried so damn hard to be the best hero. I know Heroes wasn’t a great show towards the end but I never stopped enjoying his character.

7. Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight: I know fellow Illumi-Nerdi Gabriel wouldn’t  agree with me but the guy cleaned up Gotham City…even if it was off screen.  He was the White Knight! He was perfect until he lost everything that mattered.

6. Doctor Who: I am brand new to the Doctor Who hysteria. If I grew up knowing him, he would be in my top 3 but that isn’t the case. He has saved thousands of worlds and travels in the freakin’ Tardis. By the way, I am Team David Tennant.

5. Nightwing: Q: The most beloved character in the DCU? A: Yes. The most trusted hero in any universe.

4. Cyclops: Six years ago, the Scarlet Witch almost exterminated the Mutant race. Guess who saved the day? Yep, this guy.  Cyclops makes the tough decisions that Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men can’t.

3. Batman: He isn’t an Anti-Hero soooo shut up already.

2. Spider-Man: He has Parker luck, which means nothing ever goes right in his life. Does he get all emo on us? No!! He never gives up.

1. Superman: Some might think this lame but you are wrong. I’ve been humming the Superman theme song since I was four. In high school, I grew up with Smallville and it made me believe that people can make a difference. Today, the new Action Comics’Superman is one of the best comic books in the last few years.

Notables:

Rick from The Walking Dead: His wife died, his step-baby died and well his son got shot in the eye. Yes, he gets depressed here and there but he never ever stopped fighting the zombies.

Wally West: He is my Flash!!!!

Wolverine: I am waiting for someone to bitch about why he isn’t in my top ten.

Tim Drake: Even though Dick said Tim was his equal, Tim is the better Robin and is the better detective.   

Mark Grayson: Invincible- He could be the most flawed superhero of all time. His father kicked his ass, his mother blamed him for his father leaving and he just saved the universe from his own kind.

Gabriel Partridge's Top Ten Hero List  

10. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes): Despite the fact that he probably had Aspberger’s Syndrome he invented modern crime fiction and consistently thwarted one of the best villains of all time, Professor Moriarty.

9. Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly): He’s the Han Solo for the modern era, and I’d argue even more awesome.

8. Ellen Ripley (Alien): The only surviving member of the Nostromo, probably the most badass female character of all time. She went from survivor in Alien, to ass-kicker in the sequels.

7. The Doctor (Doctor Who): The ultimate hero across Time and Space. Ridiculously likable across all incarnations of the character plus  he encounters or defeats some of the most interesting personalities in history.

6. Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings): The true hero of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While Aragorn is the King, and Frodo is the ring-bearer, Sam was Frodo’s only dependable friend (and eventual ring-bearer himself) and was the ultimate reason the One Ring got destroyed, leading to Frodo, Aragorn’s and the rest of free Middle Earth’s triumph.

5. Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): She died twice but keeps coming back to fight back the Hellmouth and save the world.

4. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars): The only consistent hero through all six of the Star Wars films. He trains the Jedi that balances the force and makes a paraplegic out of the Sith that threatens the entire universe.

3. Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones): Come on. He keeps the Ark of the Covenant out of the hands of the most vile people in modern history, prevents a psychopathic Thugee from obtaining the sacred Shiva Lingam Stones, and stops the Nazis from voiding out Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Not bad for a few years work.

2. Jack Shephard (Lost): As in true Lost fashion, Jack had his ups and downs. He was perfect, and then imperfect, and then almost a non-event (season five). But he ultimately became one of the most important characters in television history. Throughout the brilliant six seasons of the show he sacrificed so much for the group he came to care so much about. In the end he made the ultimate sacrifice one could make, he gave himself up for the preservation of the Island, his friends and the world.

1. Yorick Brown (Y: The Last Man): The only remaining male from the gendercide that wipes out half the population. He proves himself to be more than that quirky, witty, obnoxious egocentric prick he seems to be at the beginning. He is one of the only consistently likable characters in modern comics. He is without fail a completely likeable wiseass that is so rare in pop culture these days. You can’t help but like him and oh, by the way, he saves mankind.

Honorable Mentions

Ash Williams (The Evil Dead): He kicks so much ass and has a chin to match.

Dexter Morgan (Dexter): Anti-Heroes are pretty tough to defend but how can you argue with killing murderers and rapists?

Daredevil (Daredevil): I love Frank Miller’s Daredevil and a blind guy is always an awesome underdog.

Agent 355 (Y: The Last Man): How can you not love Yorick’s tragic care-taker?

Korben Dallas (The Fifth Element): I seriously regret not putting Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg in my favorite villains because Gary Oldman is consistently the best villain ever. But The Fifth Element itself deserves a place and Korben Dallas is such a cool hero from an underrated Sci-Fi flick. 

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