Category: year in review – 2006

Most Satisfying of 2006: Publisher

We’ve officially reached the conclusion of the 2006 Year in Doom, and it only took a month and a day to do it. While we previously pooped on those publishers who didn’t meet our expectations last year, we now conclude our festivities by handing out little shiny star-shaped stickers to the publishers who delivered the goods. And by goods, I mean satisfaction. And by satisfaction, I most certainly do not mean Michael Turner T&A covers. One last dig aside, thanks for tuning in and, as always, feel free to tell us why we’re wrong.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingDC

“Most satisfying, for me, was DC.”
— Doom DeLuise

“There’s nothing more satisfying than having a company deliver on its promises. DC delivered with Infinite Crisis, it delivered with One Year Later, and it delivered with 52. Thank you, DC.”
— Fin Fang Doom

” DC has really got me reading them this year, which is strange considering how avowed a Marvel Zombie I was.”
— Doominator

The little guys

“I know this should really come down to a battle between Marvel and DC, but I was disappointed with Marvel and DC was pretty good but still left me feeling let down from the high of 2005. When I think back on 2006, I’ll most remember all the great stuff that came out from smaller publishers. Top Shelf put out some great books like The Surrogates, The Tales of Woodsman Pete and Tricked, not to mention the bonanza that was Lost Girls. Fantagraphics had a predictably solid year. Archaia Studios Press really established itself with Mouse Guard and The Killer, among others. And First Second had several fine books, including American Born Chinese, which ranked atop many best-of lists. And I know they fall under DC, but Vertigo continued to pump out great books. Forced to choose between all of those books or everything I read from the Big Two last year, I’d go with the little guys.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingMarvel
“I’ve gotten what I wanted and expected from Marvel this year. DC has had some great moments and great issues, but I sampled a lot and dropped a lot after being disappointed.”
— Jim Doom



Most Disappointing of 2006: Publisher

Well, we’ve rolled along to the penultimate chapter (that means last, right?) of our 2006 Year in Doom. We’re now looking at the publishers, and in particular those that left us wanting much more in the past year. I’d say beggars can’t be choosers, but as Fin Fang Doom points out below, we readers drop a pretty penny for books nowadays, so allow us our merry vitriol.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingIDW

“IDW holds onto some of the best licenses in all of comics, including two of my personal favorites, 24 and Angel. Yet they can’t seem to put out a great comic based on either franchise. The only good thing IDW puts out is the always-stellar Fallen Angel. It just seems like IDW isn’t living up to its potential. And at $4 an issue, you need to live up to your potential.”
— Fin Fang Doom

A back-handed insult?

“DC’s failures weren’t enough to make me say I was disappointed with them, because I know not everyone is going to want to read everything.”
— Jim Doom

Just happy to be here

“I wasn’t really disappointed in anybody.”
— Doom DeLuise

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingMarvel

“Marvel’s Civil War has failed to excite me, and seeing its stamp on the covers makes me think of the old, crappy crossovers like Infinity Watch of Infinite Finity.”
— Doominator

“My problem with Marvel goes beyond the fact that I disliked Civil War. The problem was that the company-wide crossover crept into books that I previously really enjoyed, like Young Avengers, Captain America, Wolverine and anything Spider-Man. Then, they dropped the ball on other events like Planet Hulk, Ultimate Extinction and Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk and mishandled Annihilation till it was forgotten. Now, as I’m looking to the post-Civil War landscape, I’m left with a sense of dread about what’s to come. When DC’s Infinite Crisis concluded, I was left wondering how I would afford all the cool new series coming out.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom



Best of 2006: Heroes

Black AdamBlack Adam

“My favorite hero of the year was Black Adam. From poking out Psycho Pirate’s eyeballs through the back of his head to tearing Terra-Man in half, he’s kicked all sorts of ass this year. Without him, “52” wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable. There’s just something terribly fun about a hero who’s not afraid to murder people and be an all-around heavy-duty bad-ass.”
-Doom DeLuise

Nightwing (with a qualification)

“Nightwing (through Infinite Crisis).”
-Jim Doom

MadroxJamie Madrox

“Jamie Madrox has been the most interesting character of the year. Or characters, I guess. He’s good, he’s evil, he’s an agent of SHIELD, and he’s schtumping Siryn and; what’s not to love?”
-Fin Fang Doom

“I call a tie between the hero of my favorite book, Madrox the Multiple Man, and the anti-hero of one of my favorites, Jonah Hex. These guys both went from mostly forgotten to returned to glory in 2006, and it didn’t take a mega-event to do it.”
-Jean-Claude Van Damme

Cyclops

“I’m the biggest supporter of Cyclops, perhaps more than I should be, but seeing the new direction Joss Whedon could take him in makes me giddy as a school girl.”
-Doominator



Worst of 2006: Heroes

It’s rare that in a category so broad, even two of us will agree on a choice. But a lot of really good heroes had really bad years in 2006, so the five of us were able to pin it down to three. That means those three had to have a level of suck heretofore only associated with characters Reggie Hudlin had written.
Iron ManIron Man

“Ion is nice temptation, the hero who couldn’t shoot straight even with the whole of DC promoting him. But I have to go with Iron Man, who arguably could be picked for worst villain too. At this point, I’m actually hoping they kill off Tony Stark.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

“Y’know, as a villain, Iron Man might rank as one of the best of the year. But since Marvel keeps insisting he’s not a bad guy, that makes him the worst hero of the year. From corrupting Spider-Man to beating the crap out of long-time friend Captain America to creating a clone of a thunder god for killing fellow superheroes, Tony Stark has been responsible for some the worst acts of 2006. But he’s still a superhero, apparently.”
-Fin Fang Doom

WildC.A.T.s

“How many relaunches does it take to figure out that NO ONE CARES! I’m sorry, Grant Morrison, this was your nadir.”
-Doominator

Nightwing 121Nightwing

“Worst hero, for me, was Nightwing, post-Crisis. I really, really hated that stuff. I’ve worn myself out over the past few months trying to explain to people how horribly they dropped the ball with him after the OYL jump, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
-Doom DeLuise

“Nightwing (after Infinite Crisis)”
-Jim Doom



Best of 2006: Villains

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingThe Joker

“The Joker is the Joker and will always be the Joker.”
— Doominator

“He didn’t really show up a lot in 2006, but when he did, The Joker made quite a splash. He blew up Batman, Jason Todd and himself (although none of them seemed any worse for wear). He killed Alexander Luthor. And he took center stage in the best issue so far of Paul Dini’s amazing Detective Comics run. You gotta love the Joker.”
— Fin Fang Doom

“The Joker stole the show in Infinite Crisis #7, so I have to give it up to him. He stole the thunder of the biggest crossover of the past few years, and, for that, my hat is off.”
— Doom DeLuise

Superboy Prime

“No heel turn caught me so off guard, or was so believable and terrifying, as Superboy Prime turning evil and running amok through the DCU. So often, there’s a villain with the brains in the shadows pulling all the strings who’s actually the frightening one. Alexander Luthor was a conniving, vicious SOB, for sure. But even though Superboy was little more than an attack dog, he packed one hell of a bite. What carried him over through 2006 for me was how Geoff Johns set him up in 52 and Green Lantern as a smoldering powerhouse of rage bottled up in some far corner of the universe, just waiting to exact his revenge.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingThose Civil War guys

“Tony Stark and Captain America. Gotta love when the villain really thinks he’s right and isn’t just evil.”
— Jim Doom



Worst of 2006: Villains

I’ve opined before about the lack of new blood among the legions of villains in comics. And maybe now we have our explanation for why so few new baddies join the ranks of the Joker, Dr. Doom, Synestro and Orca. In 2006, we had a few new villains appear (and an old one rehashed in a new universe). And they promptly sunk to the depths as the worst villains of the year.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingUltimate Galactus

“I was actually excited about Ultimate Galactus after the cool Ultimate Nightmare mini, which brought the Ultimates and X-Men together for a creepy if nonsensical adventure. Then things got boring. And delayed. And stupid. Credit Warren Ellis for taking a pulse-pounding “world is going to be devoured” tale and bogging it down with so much “science” that the whole thing collapsed on itself. I didn’t even stick around long enough for the big bad guy to show up. So, he may have been pretty sweet, but does it make a sound if a villain nearly devours the world and no one’s there to witness it?”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

That poo guy from Nightwing

“I’d say that little midget guy who could turn into a big blob of goo, eat people, and poop them out in a hard shell before they also turn into a big blob of goo (from Bruce Jones’ run on Nightwing) may be the worst villain ever thought up. Actually, he may be tied with those two albino Matrix: Reloaded twins from the same run.”
— Doom DeLuise

The Children

“The new villians in “X-Men” come across to me as a joke … the highly evolved blah blah blah has failed to excite me.”
— Doominator

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingGrotesk

“If Robert DeNiro’s Frankenstein monster was a supervillain in the DC Universe, he would be called Grotesk. He would also be the villain in the worst Batman story I’ve ever read, and be the reason I dropped the book from my pull list.”
— Fin Fang Doom



Best of 2006: Writers

Seems as though most of us had a really hard time narrowing down our picks down to just one “Best Writer” of 2006. Not surprising, we all chose someone different. Even more not surprisinger, it seems as though we were all debating between the same 5 or 6 guys. Maybe we should have just declared them all Co-Best Writers.

Ed BrubakerEd Brubaker

“I’ll give the nod to Ed Brubaker for how seamlessly he’s taken over Daredevil (and I think I’m actually enjoying him more than I liked Bendis in the lateer days) and how he’s made Captain America cool again. I haven’t completely loved Uncanny X-Men, but I’ve been reading it and it’s definitely an improvement from where Claremont had been going. And I didn’t go past issue 1 of Criminal, but that wasn’t enough to drag him out of the top spot for me. Honorable mentions: I’ve enjoyed Paul Dini for what he’s done with Detective Comics; Geoff Johns for Infinite Crisis and the elevation of Nightwing; Kurt Busiek for Astro City and making Nightwing cooler in his Action Comics cameos than he has been anywhere else post-Crisis.”
-Jim Doom

Grant Morrison

“I love Grant Morrison, and think he is one of the most imaginative writers in comics. His All-Star Superman book, while behind schedule, always released fun science fiction stories.”
-Doominator

BKVBrian K. Vaughan

“This was a great year for comics, when people like Gail Simone, Mike Carey and a host of others planted their feet firmly in the big time. My vote last year, Robert Kirkman, continued to expand his dominance of Image and Marvel. And while all those did great work, for me it came down to Ed Brubaker and Brian K. Vaughn. Each wrote a huge number of books, each kept his titles on time, and each turned out books that stand atop the ranks of comics. Ever-so-slightly, I give my nod to BKV. Brubaker was great, but his X-Men work wasn’t quite up there with his previous triumphs. Meanwhile, BKV’s Pride of Baghdad was my favorite GN of the year and his Doctor Strange series was the best incarnation of the character in ages.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

Kurt Busiek

“Kurt Busiek has been awesome throughout the year. My favorite story-arc of 2006 was the Superman/Action Comics OYL arc “Up, Up, and Away,” plus he’s done tons of tremendous stuff elsewhere. Paul Dini, on “Detective” is an incredibly close second.”
-Doom DeLuise

Peter DavidPeter David

“There were many, many good writers last year, so it was hard to pick just one as best writer of 2006. Brian K. Vaughan, Ed Brubaker, Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid were all in contention, but in the end Peter David won out. In addition to the usually monthly X-Factor, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Fallen Angel, Peter David wrote a slew of mini-series and specials. He re-sparked my interest in 1602 with his Fantastick Four mini-series after I named 1602: The New World as the worst mini-series of 2005. He even managed to turn Spider-Man: The Other into a salvageable story with the What If? special he wrote. But the main reason Peter David comes out on top for me is that no one in comics today writes dialogue the way Peter David does. X-Factor is one of the very best series out there today because of that very reason.”
-Fin Fang Doom



Worst of 2006: Writers

You may have started to notice a trend in these “Worst” picks. No one here is a very big fan of what Bruce Jones did on Nightwing. Unbelievably, three of us either hate someone esle’s writing more or managed to block out the entire run while making our picks.

Nightwing 123Bruce Jones

“Infinite Crisis may have elevated Nightwing so that his death meant more, but when they decided not to kill him, they had elevated a mid-carder to main-event status. I don’t care if they had to rush plans to get him a One Year Later series. When you have that kind of a hot character on your hands, you do it right or you hold off until you can. Bruce Jones destroyed all the momentum coming out of Infinite Crisis both for Nightwing and Jason Todd. I hope Marv Wolfman can undo the damage.”
-Jim Doom

“Bruce Jones can go play in traffic, for all I care. I find it incredibly funny whenever he tries to write romance/sex scenes, both in “Nightwing”and in “OMAC,” because it becomes painfully obvious that he’s a fifty year-old man who’s never seen a woman naked, let alone had sex or a one-night stand.”
-Doom DeLuise

Daniel Way

“There wasn’t anyone who dropped a stinkbomb in 2006 to compare to the toilet-staining of Reginald Hudlin in 2005. But that doesn’t mean I’m without a choice. I don’t think Daniel Way is the worst writer in comics. Far from it. But he was handed a Wolverine: Origins series that’s a dream assignment, a hallowed playground with the industry’s star character. Then he also was able to write the Hulk in a new environment for the first time in a long time. On both fronts, the books fell far, far below expectations. They should have been historic. Instead, they’re history.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

BET REGINALD HUDLINReggie Hudlin

“He wrote something this year, right? By default that has to make him the worst writer of the year. I’d take a 1000-issue Bruce Jones run on Nightwing any day over a single page of a Reggie Hudlin comic.”
-Fin Fang Doom

Frank Miller

“The man has lost his mind and devolved into an imaginary violent rape fantasy world. All-Star Batman and Robin is an endless stream of ugliness and sexist imagery.”
-Doominator



Best of 2006: Artists

I don’t suppose I can claim that any of us were quite as passionate with praise for the best art of the year as we were with scorn for the worst. But, each Doomer came up with his own choice (or choices) for favorite artist.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingThose guys, again

“It’s embarrassing for me to admit this, but I don’t actually know the names of my favorite artists these days. My choice for favorite artist is more an endorsement of a favorite art style, and that style is a combination of the penciling, inking and coloring that graces the pages of Captain America and Daredevil. [Michael Lark and Steve Epting] It’s realistic and gritty while still expressive and moving. And most importantly, it perfectly fits the tone of the books. It’s ridiculously insulting to these people whose work I admire so much that I don’t even know who they are, and maybe this is more of a commendation of an editor for assembling such good talent, but that work on those books makes it that much easier to be sucked in.”
— Jim Doom

“It’s hard to pick a favorite artist. I like the guy who did the “Up, Up, and Away” [Pete Woods and Renato Guedes] mini-series, plus I really dig the guy [Ivan Reis] who’s been drawing “Green Lantern.” Oh, and that “Civil War” chap [Steve McNiven] is pretty solid, too. If I had to pick a favorite, though, I’d probably say that Phil Jimenez has earned himself that spot, through his work on “Infinite Crisis” along with his occasional appearances in 52.”
— Doom DeLuise

Bryan Hitch

“He’s Bryan Hitch. I love Bryan Hitch. I used to hate him.”
— Doominator

John Cassaday

“There’s no denying that John Cassaday is one of the most talented comic book artists today. Of course, you can say the same thing about Alex Ross, Darwyn Cooke or Carlos Pacheco. So what makes John Cassaday stand out? That would be his ability to keep a schedule while producing great work. Astonishing X-Men returned in February on a bi-monthly schedule, yet by the year’s end Cassaday had churned out seven issues, putting him a whole two months ahead of schedule. He even managed to get an issue of Planetary done along the way. If that doesn’t qualify him for artist of the year I don’t know what does.”
— Fin Fang Doom

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingDavid Petersen

“Mouse Guard is that amazing little book of the year that came out of nowhere and jumped to the top of a lot of “must read” lists. A good part of that lies in the fun plot of war among mice. But for my money, the price of admission is worth it to see Petersen’s amazingly detailed illustrations that give such life and emotion to animals that are too often either disgusting little rodents or overly caricatured animations.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom



Worst of 2006: Artists

Sure, sure, drawing comics is a terribly challenging job and so it’s completely unfair to criticize anyone who does it. Well, it may be hard, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that some guys are absolutely terrible, or the fact that the big wigs keep on hiring them to churn out turds for us poor readers to purchase. Do I sound bitter? Well, you would to if forced to choose between spending an extra $8 or taking home an issue of JLA with a Michael Turner tainted cover.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingMichael Turner

“I hate Michael Turner. My hatred of him is greatly intensified that his work has somehow become a mark of quality. He wouldn’t be getting so much cover work if that wasn’t the case. But man, he sucks! All he can do is draw overly-muscled square-jawed generic strong guys and anorexic plastic women. I don’t expect my comics artists to be masters of anatomy, but if they’re going to have their horns tooted they’d better be able to have enough variety in their faces to not make Solomon Grundy look like Superman with gray skin (or Batman without a mask).”
— Jim Doom

That Wonder Man guy… and someone else

“I’d say worst is the loser [Andrew Currie] who’s drawing “Wonder Man.” Plus, anything that Scott McDaniel draws has a tendency to make my eyes bleed.”
— Doom DeLuise

“I literally felt sick to my stomach after picking up the first issue of Wonder Man. Andrew Currie tries for some mash-up between manga and Humberto Ramos and it is just terrifying. Speaking of Mr. Ramos, I thought that it could just be his style that didn’t mesh well with Wolverine during the Civil War arc. He drew Wolvie as overly muscled and a neck so thick as to not even exist. Well, this theory was busted this week when Ramos contributed art to The Goon. And even on that overly muscled, thick-necked caricature of a character, his art blew.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingRob Liefeld

“He drew something this year, right? By default that has to make him the worst artist of the year. Rob Liefeld is the only artist that was able to make me audibly groan at the mere sight of his artwork in front of a comic shop full of people (which is only like four people, but still).”
— Fin Fang Doom

“Rob Liefeld is too easy a vote, but his art makes me get little brain tremors to look at.”
— Doominator