Best Storyline in an Ongoing Series of 2008


captain america 34Doom DeLuise says: The Death of Captain America, Captain America!

This was truly an epic storyline that began in the wake of Civil War and continued to its conclusion just a couple months ago. It’s been said countless times before, but the true testament to this book’s awesomeness is that the title character’s death has made the series far more interesting than anything they could’ve done had he remained alive.

I remember back before all of this began, immediately after Civil War ended, I was thinking about how Brubaker had his work cut out for him, since Cap was going to be taken to prison, and Brubaker had just been spending the last year or so getting another of the characters he was writing (Daredevil) out of prison.

Luckily, they killed Steve Rogers off, and Brubaker instead gave us twenty-some issues of Bucky becoming the new Captain America. It was expertly written and gorgeous to look at, and, dare I say it, I kind of prefer Bucky over Steve now.

That’s sayin’ something.

Jim Doom says: (tie) Batman RIP, Batman; Brainiac, Action Comics!

Superman and Batman were at the front of two of my favorite stories this year, and DC deserves major credit for ensuring that their big two are getting proper attention. It’s also worth noting that both of these stories led to big changes for their characters, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, but DC made sure those changes were in good hands.

Brainiac came on the heels of the fantastic Legion of Super-Heroes arc in Action and led seamlessly into the huge New Krypton period of Superman. Batman RIP tied up years of Morrison’s run on Batman, not to mention decades of Batman comics prior, and changed the status quo for the title.

Honorable mention: Secret Origin, Green Lantern

I enjoyed how Geoff Johns made the retelling of Hal Jordan’s origin open new doors for what’s about to happen in the world of the Green Lanterns. My only real complaint with this series was that it just took too long.

Fin Fang Doom says: One World Under Gog, Justice Society of America!

I’ve always been a fan of mega-arcs. A lot of times six or even eight issues just isn’t enough time to build up a story and bring it to a satisfyingly spectacular finale. That has not been a problem in Justice Society of America.

The eight-part “One World Under Gog” ended in December, and the arc before that, “Thy Kingdom Come,” was part of the same storyline too. So JSA was essentially one long storyline throughout 2008. The story naturally had a slow build that climaxed in the JSA: The Kingdom special, when Gog demanded “Worship me.” The resolution to the story came quickly after, returning changed characters to their status quo (although some like Citizen Steel and Magog are clearly changed) and sending the Kingdom Come Superman back to his own universe.