Best Hero of 2009
Jim Doom: Batman!
Excluding things written by Tony Daniel, I have to say Batman. In Grant Morrison’s Batman & Robin and Judd Winick’s Batman, Dick was believable and fun to watch as his own man. Both writers were able to cast him in the character of Batman while maintaining his own defined Dick Grayson personality. Given the limited run of Batman & Robin and the upcoming Batman-in-time series, I’m inclined to believe that DC let Tony Daniel write Batman because they knew he was devoid of ambition and incapable of thinking too big, therefore presenting no danger of causing any irreparable damage. Let him mark time while Morrison does the hard work elsewhere. Batman: Unseen was great too. The big blemish on his year — getting killed in a really stupid way — is only as big of a mess as it is because of how great the character is. You take a dump on Geo-Force’s death and it’s not a problem.
Honorable Mention: Captain America. Bucky had a great year as Captain America, but he was overshadowed by the far-too-early return of Steve Rogers.
Here are the heroes we dug in previous years:
2008:
Doom DeLuise: Iron Man
Jim Doom: Batman2007:
Doom DeLuise: Booster Gold
Jim Doom: Captain America
Doominator: Cyclops
Fin Fang Doom: Winter Soldier2006:
Doom DeLuise: Black Adam
Jim Doom: Nightwing (through Infinite Crisis)
Fin Fang Doom: Jamie Madrox
Doominator: Cyclops2005: (then called Best Characters)
Jim Doom: Matt Murdock
Fin Fang Doom: OMACs
Jean-Claude Van Doom: Batman