Happy Holidays and a Merry X-Man Day to you all.
As you know, I read Rich Johnston’s column Lying in the Gutters each week. It is a very well written and formulated piece nearly every week and has just enough rumor mixed with new facts each week to get me checking it around 4:00 every Monday. You can find it each week on comicbookresources.com.
Last week he challenged shops and bloggers to post on Christmas; something different and special just for that day. Johnston mentioned those who do, would get the mention in his column. I talked to the brother’s DC, employee (and one of the smartest comic readers I’ve ever met) Nate Anderson and general overall helper Mike Nuttall about this and they all agreed it would/could be a good thing, but we needed something to maybe spur a little sales too.
So, for the first time ever, I present to you The Cuppies, our year end awards. Slightly different, all opinion and something that might help you find a good new read.
However, we want to hear from you too. E-mail me or post your thoughts at the bottom of the page.
Here we go with our first award
• Best Writer 2008
Matt: Ed Brubaker. This is the easiest of the awards for me. Brubaker did the unthinkable and killed off Captain America. He has also made Daredevil as good or better then when Brian Bendis wrote it (and that is one of the best runs on any book ever.) He helped in bringing back Iron Fist and kept all of his books out of the Secret Invasion nightmare. My honorable mention is for Jason Aaron on Ghost Rider, Scalped, previously on Black Panther and a bunch of Wolverine mini-series. He is the single most talented new comer to comics in the last decade. He is making Ghost Rider readable for crying out load.
Curt: Grant Morrison, Batman and Final Crisis
Kyle: Grant Morrison. A writer who can come up with fresh and original, creative ideas and makes old stories and characters relevant or remind us that they actually do exist or did exist at one time; able to take characters back to what they were originally intended to be.
Nate: Rick Remender – He’s the new Joe Casey! His stories are always very entertaining and he gets the best artists in this industry to draw them. Ed Brubaker – Criminal is perfect (7 issues a year is better than 12 issues of anything else) and Daredevil is one of the most solid (writing & art) monthly books on the shelves.
Mike: Peter David. David has the unenviable task of appeasing thousands of rabid King fans by writing the Dark Tower series and pulls it off marvelously. If this isn’t enough just look at his work on X-factor it’s fantastic. Hopefully his run on this title will rival his run on the Hulk. Honorable mention goes to Mike Carey and Jason Aaron.
Jonah: Jason Aaron. Scalped continues to impresses every month. His Wolverine arc kicked ass, as did his Black Panther (best of the SI tie ins), and Ghost Rider is the best it has ever been…Ever!
• Best Artist 2008
Matt: Eric Powell. I have been a big fan of the Goon since I first opened the shop. However, the book has come out sporadically over that time, sometimes every other month, sometimes longer. It’s the one problem the book has had, but the storytelling and art has been amazing. This year, the book has been regular and monthly and has kept the highest of quality art and storytelling. It’s also funny as hell. Really amazing him doing it on a monthly basis.
My two honorable mentions are for Tony Daniel on Batman and Billy Tucci on Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion. I also want to give a shout out to my friend Brook Turner, a hell of a good job he’s doing on Golly and working the regular job too.
Curt: Brook Turner on Golly and Phil Hester on like fifteen books including El Diablo.
Kyle: Alex Ross. Anyone who has something bad to say or dislikes this man’s artwork, obviously hasn’t seen JSA: Superman Special, where he did everything pencils, writing and inks. the artwork in this book was well beyond excellent, in my opinion probably the best comic book of the year simply because of the artwork. Just to look at the pretty pictures in this book was well worth it.
Nate: Jordi Bernet on Jonah Hex – One of my favorite artists of all time (maybe someday they’ll reprint Torpedo for you deprived superhero kids) and Stuart Immonen on Ultimate Spiderman – One of the only mainstream artists who’s style is constantly evolving.
Mike: Frank Cho. I’m a total fan boy when it comes to Cho but he deserves all my praise and more. Eight page stories, covers, one-shots, it doesn’t matter. Make mine Cho.
Jonah: I am a big fan of Mike Deodato Jr. His photo-realistic style really brings to life the fantastic characters in an awesome, cinematic style. Loved his work on Ellis’ Thunderbolts, and now on Wolverine Origins.
**Nate wanted a combo Cuppie (I think they sell those at 7-11) added and I can’t agree more with his picks.
• Best Writer/Artist
Nate: Eric Powell – It was the year of Goon after all (I can’t believe he pulled it off) and the great Stan Sakai – I will never understand how people who seem to worship a gaijin in tights are afraid of an anthropomorphic ronin. The stories in Usagi Yojimbo are not only serious Edo era epics but are full of characters who have been developing for over 20 years
Mike: David Lapham. Lapham on Young Liars, is always creepy, always thought provoking, and always delivers.
• Best Comic Book Series Published in 2008
Matt: Umbrella Academy. I read a lot of comics each week and month. So much so that I can’t keep up on all the rest of the other reading I’d like to do. (It’s my understanding there are these things called books and they don’t have any pictures in them… shocking.) However, I think the single best book I’ve read this year is Umbrella Academy. Total package, story, art and pay off, this is it. Grant Morrison called it “X-Men for cool people,” but I would probably go further. It’s superheroes for smart comic readers. So much of today’s mainstream books are so cookie cutter cut and dried crap, that when something is both well written, well drawn and so different then the books on either side of it on the shelf that they must be read.
My two honorable mentions are for Batman and Captain America.
Curt: All-Star Superman
Kyle: All-Star Superman. By far the best Superman story ever published, if not one of the best comic book stories ever. With the writing of Grant Morrison and artwork from Frank Quitely, you can’t go wrong, but they go well beyond any expectations that I had at the beginning of the series. Morrison completely understands Superman at the core of his character (he is the son of a scientist, which hardly anyone recognizes) and the storytelling capabilities of Quitely’s artwork makes this one of the greatest reads of your lifetime. I could go on and on about how good this book is, but I won’t because you need to read it.
Nate: Criminal – Still perfect, Scalped – Almost perfect and monthly and Umbrella Academy – Not only constantly evolving characters but great humor as well (makes me wish Giffen and DeMatties weren’t so old)
Mike: Uncanny and X-men Legacy Again I’m a fan-boy for X-men but these books have actually been awesome from the messiah storyline to present. Mike Carey and Ed Brubaker have done things I never thought possible. They have made Cyclops and Professor X cool, they made me hope to never see Jean Grey again and they have made me proud to say I read the X-men books. Honorable mention goes to Scalped.
Jonah: Scalped. I am a fan of gritty crime dramas, and every month Jason Aaron’s no-holds-barred writing grabs the scrotum and refuses to let go.
• Best New Series or Mini-series Published in 2008
Matt: The Stand. This book is great. I’ve never read the “real” book, some call them novels, but every month I am amazed at how coherent this is. I’m not lost or confused. We will have to see if it stays this way as we are talking a 1200 page novel and only 30 issues to tell it, but so far, this is a hell of a good ride.
My three honorable mentions are for Guardians of the Galaxy, Echo and the Lovecraft Haunt of Horror. (Lovecraft is scary, Corben’s art based on Lovecraft’s writing has me turning on extra lights.)
Curt: Pax Romana
Kyle: Crossed. Garth Ennis is definitely insane on this book. This is the next version of the zombie horror mythos, much like 28 Days Later changed the genre earlier this decade. If you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing out on, for instance, very creative ways to infect others, issue #2. I don’t want to ruin anything, especially to the people who live under a rock and haven’t read it, but let’s just say this is one of the most twisted and terrifying books ever.
Nate: The End League – Rick Remender’s Avengers (The End League) is better then Warren Ellis’ Justice League (The Authority) and Young Liars – Completely untamed.
Mike: Echo. Terry Moore’s Echo is fantastic and only gets better with every issue. Those familiar with Moore’s Strangers In Paradise will definitely enjoy this book, but those who didn’t read SIP or didn’t like it should most definitely give this book a chance. It is super hero sci-fi storytelling but Moore dose it with wonderful passion and realism. Honorable mention goes to Locke and Key, I can’t wait for this book to return.
Jonah: Invincible Iron Man. Matt Fraction gets Tony Stark, and Salvador Larroca’s art is drop dead gorgeous. Easy access for new readers, and hasn’t been bogged down by Marvel’s Secret Invasion event.
• Two Underrated Books That Need Your Help
Matt: RASL and Terry Moore’s Echo. These are two independent books that both started this year and have surprised the pants off me. RASL is by Jeff Smith and nothing like Bone. The story of a dimensional jumper who, so far in the story seems to be an art thief, but there is a lot we don‘t know. Problem, the book is coming out very infrequently. Moore’s Echo, on the other hand, comes out nearly monthly. This book is great! The story of a woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time; Bombarded by bits a super bomb and maybe the human that was inside, she must now stay one step ahead of the government and other forces who seek to use the strange weapon she is becoming. Both are must reads that should be doing better then they are in my shop.
Curt: Golly and Jack of Fables
Kyle: Jack of Fables. A book that makes you laugh is always worth the time it takes to read and this is certainly one of them.
Nate: The best stuff people aren’t reading: Madman – pushing the boundaries of sequential art in every direction, Godland – more entertaining than anything DC is willing to do with the New Gods (Grant Morrison or not) and Conan – feeding me monthly Richard Corben art.
Mike: Cable (yes Cable) and House of Mystery I know you’ll think that my vote for Cable is an X thing but it’s not. This book is smart and well written. It’s basically a war story told from both sides of the conflict and is reminiscent of Jason Aaron’s Otherside. House of Mystery is a great Vertigo book that deserves a chance to shine. In today’s market when Vertigo books like Crossing Midnight, Exterminators, and Vinyl Underground have all been cancelled without getting the chance to establish a fan base is sad. I sincerely hope House will get this chance.
Jonah: Nova, which is one of the best Superhero titles on the stands right now and Ghost Rider, as mentioned before is the best it has ever been after Jason Aaron transformed it from a second-rate Superhero comic to an anything-goes Grindhouse horror comic.
• Worst Comic Series I Still Read as of December 2008
Matt: There are those books you read and want to drop or stop, but just can’t. I have a couple, but easily the worst is Green Arrow. I have a complete run of all three volumes and maybe that has something to do with it, but this book has just been bad. Long have the days been since Chuck Dixon was on this book in the early nineties and Smith/Hester/Parks were on it in the late nineties. Judd Winick truly is a terrible hack of a writer. Maybe this new guy who started last month will start something worthy of actually getting this book each month.
My honorable mention is for Hulk. I guess it’s true, art can make you “read” a book. I have A LOT of Hulk comics, but, man, Loeb’s writing is terrible, but Cho and Art Adams on the same book makes for some sweet ass… well, in Cho’s case ass-es and in Adam’s case everything else.
Curt: Most of the garbage written by Brian Bendis… urrgh, did you read Mighty Avengers #20?
Kyle: Marvel’s Big Events. I always pick them up and am always disappointed when they are over, not because they are over, but because I will never get the time back I wasted on reading them. Secret Invasion was way too drawn out. A comic that should have been four issues took eight… and it was all just build up to another Big Event, Dark Reign. I will admit it sounds interesting, but it has been building up and building up… forever. Will it ever stop? I did only read the main storyline for Secret Invasion, so maybe more interesting plot developments happened elsewhere, but if they did that isn’t necessarily a good thing, with all the tie-ins this storyline had, I’m surprised they could even show anything in the main title. I am sick of Big Earth Shattering Marvel Events. What happened to people telling stories? That were one issue? Oh, and also happened to be good?
Nate: (It appears – since he didn’t add anything for this category – that Nate does not read bad comics and the scary thing is I would believe that… he would have a Sixth Sense of Comic Suck-a-tude.)
Mike: Titans Not Teen Titans but the newest series about the classic Wolfman/ Perez Titans. I love these characters and I’ve read all the Titan series to date, but this adaptation is brutally painful even worse than Team Titans.
Jonah: Hulk…I haven’t read it since issue six, but still buy it… And it is terrible.
• Make Mine Marvel, or DC, or Independent… and Why?
Matt: Make Mine Dark Horse! More then any company they are consistently publishing the best books and could easily have a motto of “Less is More!” The Goon, Hellboy, BPRD, Conan and two other Robert Howard books, Kull and Solomon Kane, oh and they also publish Umbrella Academy. Throw in an occasional cool mini-series (like Concrete) and this is THE publisher with more, not lesser, then the two big evils.
Curt: DC, pending the week the last issue of Final Crisis comes out. Then, well, I may need to draw my own!
Nate: Independent and the anthologies that are published by several companies – please look through the Previews each month and order anything you find interesting. There are hundreds of comics produced each month and the people making them are the future of this medium. Try an anthology like Meathause or Mome, they cost $10 to $15 but only come out a couple times a year and are packed with every kind of story.
Mike: Independent (this includes Dark Horse but not Image) Independents are better written, deeper stories, and passionate. They are labors of love by people who care about their fans. And there are no mega crossover, never ending crossover, or weekly crossover comics.
Jonah: The majority of the titles I buy are Marvel with just a few DC titles each month. I do enjoy supporting and especially reading the Indie books (which I include Image titles as) such as Golly, Lock and Key, and Umbrella Academy. To echo what Mike said, a number of these titles are labors of love, people creating comics not because of fame and fortune, but because they love the medium.