Best of 2008 - Comics Part 2

Best miniseries - 1985 by Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards (Marvel) & The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba (Dark Horse)

With so many comics that were read in 2008, I was having a tough time remembering which mini-series I read this past year and after putting away my comics form the last 6 month in boxes, I stumbled across these 2 series that were really stood out as greatness.


1985 is a 6-issues miniseries from the mind of Mark Millar comes a story a bout a boy named Toby Goodman who is into comics especially the crossover of the time “Secret Wars” as he is on his way home, he encounters super-villains from the comic book world out in the real world and the story goes from there, the artwork from Edwards is simply breathtaking and very different from anything in comics right now.

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The Umbrella Academy is also a 6-issues from first-time writer Gerard Way (if that name sounds familiar, it is because he is the lead singer for the band My Chemical Romance) now usually when celebrities come to this medium the results are usually either very good ( Joss Whedon, Allan Heinberg) or very bad (Damon Lindelof) but Gerard looks like he is going to be one of the greats with Gabriel on art (Gabriel Ba and his brother Fabian Moon are one of my favorite artists) this mini-series is one of the best of 2008.



The story is about a group of heroes who are adopted at birth by Sir Reginald Hargreeves because they showed to have powers to become heroes. The series takes place in the present and in the past and it all comes to conclusion with the pending Apocalypse.




Best writer - Geoff Johns (JSA, Action Comics, Green Lantern, Etc)

"The man with the golden touch" Geoff johns has always been a great writer but it seems that this year he has surpassed everyone expectations, by writing everything from Superman, Green Lantern, The justice Society and even bringing real meaning to the Rogues, it seem like everything he write turns to gold.
Even thought he is leaving Action Comics & JSA in 2009, there is a big chance that Geoff Johns will still be my pick of best writer for 2009.





Best artist - Olivier Coipel (Thor)

Olivier artwork first stood out in the House of M mini-series but it is in Thor that his brilliance really shines.
Olivier is a french artist who signed a exclusive contract with Marvel comics in 2005 and has been drawing for them since.
In Thor not only does he capture the raw power of Thor, but he also capture the subtlety of Donald Blake, Thor alter ego.





Best Hero -Superman (Superman, Action Comics) & Batman (Batman, Detective Comics) DC Comics

This year both of this heroes went to some dramatic changes, Superman went from being the only kryptonian to being one of thousands with the "New Krypton" storyline.

While with Batman he went from dealing with the Black Glove, to having to see Catwoman have her heart literally taken out to sacrificing himself to stop Darkseid.
All year we have been given some of the best stories from these two characters in a long time and looks like 2009 will only get better.





Best Villain - Darkseid (DC Comics)

It's been a hell of a year for the New God with having to battle Jimmy Olsen on Countdown and having his heart ripped out by his Son, Orion.
But you can never keep a God down, having come back from near death take total control of the DC Universe with killing Batman being the icing of the cake.

Best of 2008 - Comics Part 1

With the new year here, I wanted to reflect on a great year for comics we had for 2008.
From the big companies like Marvel and DC comics to Indies, everyone brought out there best and this is a list of my very best of comics from 2008.




Best Series of 2008 - JSA (Justice Society of America)

Even though this current arc (Thy Kingdom Come) started in 2007 and the last issue finished on January 2, 2009, this was the book that I most looked forward to in 2008 by far.
This unofficial Sequel to Kingdom Come came from the seeds that were planted since the very first issue and had me wanting more. With great writing from Geoff Johns and some beautiful artwork from Dale Eaglesham and covers from Alex Ross, this was to me the best of 2008.





Best Single Issue - Joker's Asylum: Penguin by Written by Jason Aaron Art and cover by Jason Pearson(DC Comics)

Joker's Asylum was a fifth week event (meaning the comic comes out weekly for five week straight done by different creators)
To me not only was this the best issue of the series, but the best single issue of the year.
Aaron and Pearson gave us a compelling story of the penguin for his beginning to his current state all told from an outside perspective.
this story really elevates The Penguin to another level of villains.




Best New Series - Guardians of the Galaxy(Marvel), Terry Moore's Echo (Abstract)

Both of these series let me venture onto something that I had never read before, one is Sci-fi comics and the other is Terry moore.

Guardians of the galaxy written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning is a team of interstellar heroes that will be proactive in protecting the galaxy, rather than reacting to crises as they happen. The team consist of Star-Lord, Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Phyla-Vell(the new Quasar) and Rocket Raccoon. each character has bring something different to the story and your curious to find out what happens next.



Terry Moore's Echo written and drawn by Terry Moore is a story revolves around Julie, a young photographer who inadvertently comes across a government test facility which has an explosion that rains down on Julie covering her body with some kind of metal and the government wants it back.
Even though I'm reading both of Terry Moore's major works (Runaways and Spider-man loves Mary Jane) this is the best of all his current work.






Best Revamp - Amazing Spider-man (Marvel)

I'm a big enough man to admit when I was wrong and on this series I WAS WRONG. After the controversial and disappointing "One More Day" storyline, I thought this series would never make its promise of both good stories and having the book on time (book has gone to a 3 times a month schedule) but they have.
With great writers like Dan Slott, Bob Gale, Marc Guggenheim, Zeb Wells and others and amazing artists like Chris Bachalo, Phil Jimenez, Mike McKone, John Romita, Jr. and Marcos Martin this series has gotten a second chance at greatness.

This is part 1 with the second one coming in about a week.