Best Trend of 2008

Doom DeLuise says: The Emergence of the Marvel Film Universe!

When Iron Man came out this summer, one of the coolest parts of the entire thing was how, after the credits, Nick Fury showed up at Tony Stark’s mansion and mentioned that they were forming the Avengers Initiative.

A month later, The Incredible Hulk came out, and, while it was a turd on screen, the last scene built on this premise from Iron Man. Tony Stark made a cameo and mentioned that they were putting a team together. Not only that, but the way the Abomination was created was through the use of the Super Soldier Serum.

Since the release of these movies, it’s also been revealed online that there were several easter eggs planted through both. For instance, in Iron Man, there’s a scene where you can see Captain America’s shield in one of Stark’s labs. In The Incredible Hulk, there’s a shot in the DVD where you can see Cap frozen in a block of ice during an arctic scene.

All of this cohesion is building to what will eventually pay off as a giant Avengers blockbuster, with Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Ant Man, and a whole slew of others that haven’t been named yet. This interconnected web of the Marvel Universe is incredibly cool, and light-years ahead of anything DC has come up with.

Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty awesome trend.

Fin Fang Doom says: Me buying less crap!

During 2008, I realized I was reading a few titles more out of habit than out of actual enjoyment. And by “a few titles,” I mean Ultimate X-Men, The Immortal Iron Fist, Final Crisis, X-Factor, X-Men: Legacy, Thunderbolts, Avengers: The Initiative, Detective Comics, Superman, Astonishing X-Men, Green Arrow/Black Canary, Legion of Super-Heroes, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, Simon Dark, and probably a few others I’ve completely forgotten about. I find that reading less crap makes me enjoy my other comics more, plus there’s the added benefit of not wasting money!

Jim Doom says: Making $3.99 comics worth $3.99!

I do give Marvel credit — as much as I despise (and fear) the idea of regular monthly comics costing $3.99, Marvel has been offering some books here and there that really make the effort to be worth the money. I’m not talking about adding 8 pages or a special cover to the 25th issue and calling it a huge special anniversary issue or anything like that. I’m referring to these occasional one-shots that Marvel has been releasing — Orson Randall and the Green Mists of Death, Secret Invasion: Requiem, two Thor specials and Giant-Size Avengers-Invaders, for example.

Some of them are just stand-alone stories, like Iron Fist and one of the Thor books. Others, like Requiem and Thor, are hybrids of old material and new material that enhances the reprinted stories. And the Avengers-Invaders book was entirely reprinted material, but it was assembled in a way to create what was essentially a stand-alone story that unfolded over several decades of Avengers comics. But it’s as if someone at Marvel is actually thinking about how they can make this $3.99 comic worth the money.

I’ll keep moaning about regular monthly issues being $3.99 for the rest of 2009, I’m sure. But occasionally, Marvel gets it right, and when they do, it’s great. It’s a format I hope DC latches onto as well.

Here’s what we thought were some pretty kick-ass trends from last year:

2007:
Doom DeLuise: Less Countdown Crossovers
Jim Doom: Killing off Jack Kirby’s Creations
Doominator: On-Time Shipping
Fin Fang Doom: Multiple Artists on One Title