Category: year in review – 2006

“Best ongoing” for us is really more like “best series,” since two of them are technically limited series. Although both of those limited series just seems to be going on and on and on, so maybe that’s how we got confused

X-Factor

“I judge this simply by which monthly I am happiest to see when it ships. For the past couple years it was Astonishing X-Men, which revived my favorite character. Over the course of 2006, Peter David took a series that I didn’t care much about and crafted an amazing run on X-Factor, avoiding the pitfalls of Civil War and House of M and packing a consistent punch of drama and laughs. How? He focuses on characters, not events.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

Ultimates 2

“Ultimates 2 – The World War III aspects made this series the penultimate cinematic comic book. I loved it all.”
-Doominator

52

“Aside from the fact that it’s an absolutely amazing editorial accomplishment, I find that “52” has been the bright spot of my stack every Wednesday since it started. It’s hard to write a compelling mystery, but, check it out: They’re doing it.”
-Doom DeLuise

Amazing Spider-Man

“2006 was a great year for Amazing Spider-Man. The title, which spent the entire year crossing over with Civil War, was one of the few success stories of the whole thing. Spider-Man was a central figure in Civil War, but thankfully his story was given the room it needed to develop fully in Amazing instead of being shoehorned into the mini-series. We spent the entire year watching Peter Parker make a series of choices that we all knew were wrong for him, yet Peter was convinced he was doing the right thing. From swearing loyalty to Tony Stark to making the tough decision about unmasking to standing toe-to-toe with Captain America, you had to feel bad for the guy. Deep down in his heart, Peter knew what the right thing to do was, and when he finally made the decision to turn on Iron Man and oppose the Superhuman Registration Act, I was excited even though we all saw it coming from a mile away. There may have been other series in 2006 that were better issue to issue, but no book had a better arc from January to December than Amazing Spider-Man did.”
-Fin Fang Doom

Anything with Ed Brubaker and superheroes (except for Uncanny X-Men and Iron Fist)

“Captain America and Daredevil. This probably just seems like I’m trying to reinforce my best writer choice, but I am never disappointed with these books.”
-Jim Doom

This is probably the hardest category to make a pick for, becuase as Jim Doom points out, you don’t tend to keep reading a series if you hate it. So this is more like “The worst two issues from an ongoing series that we’re basing out opinions on of 2006.” Apologies if stuff got better, but might I interject: Why the hell did it take so long?

Nightwing

“I tend to not stick with stuff that I hate, but I stuck with Nightwing longer than I wish I would have.”
-Jim Doom

“Nightwing. And anything Worldstorm.”
-Doom DeLuise

Hawkgirl

“Hawkgirl was the only series I read starting at One Year Later that I immediately disliked. I gave every other title I read at least a three or four issue try-out, but I was convinced after two issues of Hawkgirl that it wasn’t the title for me. I can’t really put my finger on it, there was just something off.”
-Fin Fang Doom

ASSBAR

“All-Star Batman and Robin – The book is nothing short of a sh**stain on everything we consider comic bookery to be.”
-Doominator

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

“I was really disappointed to see Wolverine return to crappy form after a strong Millar run in 2005, but that wasn’t quite enough to edge out Nextwave: Agents of Hate. I must be in league with Nextwave, because I hate this book. I’m sure Ellis apologists will say I just don’t get it, but when I read this book, all I think of is how much I miss the New Invaders, a series with huge explosions, big fights and constant humor that didn’t have to rely on gimmicks or shoving its content down readers’ throats.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

With a ton of mega events to choose from in 2006, you’d think the Doomers would be salivating to annoint the greatest. Well, if you thought that, you were wrong. Still, we had a few thoughts.

Civil War

“I doubted it would happen, but I think Civil War has been executed very well. And I anticipate that it will have a better conclusion than House of M too.”
— Jim Doom

None

“I’m going to say that because I voted for Infinite Crisis for this award in 2005 (or I would’ve if we had this award. I can’t really remember), that it doesn’t qualify for 2006. Out of all the events (and there were lots: 52, Civil War, Annihilation, OYL, Planet Hulk, etc.), none seemed worthwhile enough to be declared “the Best.” So, I’m pulling the great cop out and going with D: None of the above.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

Infinite Crisis

“Sure, half of it happened in 2005, but even half of Infinite Crisis is a bigger event than anything else that happened in 2006. It reshaped the DC Universe, just like DC said it would. Crossovers like Infinite Crisis are the reason people still look forward to “events” when all too often they end up being quite uneventful.”
— Fin Fang Doom

The Black Panther/Storm wedding

“I don’t think anyone cared about what was dubbed “The Wedding of the Century.” Most fans had already grown sour on Reggie Hudlin’s Black Panther. And with Civil War going on, who the hell cares about the wedding between two wholly unimportant characters? People reading Black Panther, and that’s it. Just like how only people that read She-Hulk care that Jennifer Walters and John Jameson got hitched. Yet Marvel still pushed this thing as a major milestone for the company.”
— Fin Fang Doom

Brave New World

“It was totally worthless, boring, and poorly executed. We all knew the Monitor would be back months before the issue came out, so the big “twist” or “SURPRISE!!!!!!” didn’t ring true. It was hollow. Plus, all the mini-serieseses that came from it were pretty much without worth across the board.”
— Doom DeLuise

Annihilation

“Maybe it’s been good, but Marvel really dropped the ball on their timing with this. I don’t care about the characters, but I would have been much more likely to give it a shot if it weren’t going on at the exact same time as Civil War.”
— Jim Doom

Everything big and green

“While I’m a big anti-fan of Civil War, that series has at worst been mildly entertaining, and much more so than Marvel’s previous Mega Events. To be the absolute worst of a year, though, takes something more. Something truly bad. And along those lines, I give you Planet Hulk. Here’s a series in which one of the most famed heroes of all time is taken to a completely irrelevant setting and strung through a never-ending cycle of “smash everything” adventures that somehow managed to not be exciting. Even the Silver Surfer vs. Hulk battle was weak at best. But, you know what’s even worse? The event that never happens. Sure, I love Leinil Yu and Damon Lindelof, but it would’ve been nice if their Ultimate battle between Wolverine and Hulk would’ve at least seen, you know, a fight.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

So you’re reading along in a comic, just minding you own business. You turn the page, and your eyes bulge out of your head. You’re overwhelmed for a moment and at a loss for words. Maybe you even get a little teary-eyed. Every year there are only a handful that stick with us. Those are the moments we all read comics for.

The Eyes Lost It

“Cyclops losing his powers and coming back with the gun. The ruthless we’ve always wanted to see from the boy scout of the mutants.”
-Doominator

The Deader the Better

“Best moment of the year, for me, came in issue six of the mini-series Battle for Bludhaven, when Captain Atom finally woke up and blew the town to kingdom come. Sure, the series sucked hard, but we were all waiting for that moment, and it delivered. Another great moment was when Galactus fell in Annihilation. I did not see that one coming.”
-Doom DeLuise

“This seems like it should count in 2005, since that was the year of Infinite Crisis, but when the Joker killed Alexander Luthor and wrapped up the biggest event ever seen in comics, I applauded.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

A Superman/Superman Fight Done Right

“Back in March, Robert Kirkman put on a fight between five Superman-level characters. The fight was brutal, as it should have been. The double-page splash by artist Ryan Ottley stands out in particular as one of the best pieces of art from 2006. Perhaps what makes the moment even more memorable is the fact that DC had put on a relatively disappointing Superman vs. Superman fight juts a few weeks earlier in Infinite Crisis.”
-Fin Fang Doom

So you’re reading along in a comic, just minding you own business. You turn the page, and your brow furrows. You’re overwhelmed for a moment and at a loss for words. Maybe you even get a pissed off. Every year there are only a handful that stick with us. Those are the moments we all dread comics for.

Detective Comics #825

‘Well, Detective Comics #825 with a guest writer was tepid and one of the most dull issues of any series I’ve read this year. It’s a sour break from a great Paul Dini run. Royal McGraw, you disappoint me.”
-Doominator

Dick (Grayson) Sucking

“So Jason Todd gets eaten by some spider-ish guy, and then gets pooped out inside a shell of green slime. So naturally, when Jason eventually gets out, he has the ability to eat people and poop them out inside of shells green slime. Oh wait, I’m sorry, that’s stupid. Sometimes I confuse stupid with not stupid. This one was definitely stupid.”
-Fin Fang Doom

“Worst moment was when Dick Grayson read Jason Todd’s farewell telegram in Nightwing. Ugh. Just stop already. That whole series had such potential, but man, that was one hundred percent without worth.”
-Doom DeLuise

The “I’m Leaving You” Sex

“No one particular thing stood out in my mind that really filled me with spite. Civil War #4, however, had a bunch of those moments. The worst for me was Sue leaving Reed. Just an emblem of the many wrongs contained in that book.”
-Jean Claude Van Doom

A good cover isn’t necessarily all about the artist. A bad cover on the other hand…

Rob Liefeld or Michael Turner?

“There’s one question that no one has been able to give me an answer to since I first posed it two months ago: “Which cover is uglier?” Both Rob Liefeld and Michael Turner submitted truly heart-wrenchingly bad covers to the first issue of Onslaught Reborn, but I guess that’s fitting.”
-Fin Fang Doom

Michael Turner, Apparently

“Everything that Michael Turner does.”
-Jim Doom

“Anything by Michael Turner. This guy sucks. I hate having to buy his covers. Alternate covers are stupid and Turner is just riding this lame horse to the horizon. I hope he falls off the edge of the earth in 2007.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

Wonder Man #1

“Worst cover was “Wonder Man #1,” for obvious reasons. I am such a huge Wonder Man fan, and I can’t stand to look at it.”
-Doom DeLuise

While we all pretty much agreed on what makes a bad cover (or who makes a bad cover, rather), the Doomers torn on what makes a good cover. Does an iconic image make the best covers? A cast of thousands? Paint? I’ll just let you decide.

Lone Ranger #2

“As has been picked elsewhere, the first issue of 52 had an amazing cover. Also, John Cassady continued a great run of covers (and interior work) in Astonishing X-Men. But it’s a lesser-known Cassady cover that impressed me the most. For the second issue of the new Lone Ranger series, he took an icon and twisted it slightly, making an iconic image all his own.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

DC: The New Frontier Volume 2 TPB

“Darwyn Cooke’s artwork is pretty. Just inked and colored, it’s a delight. But fully painted, and on actual canvas, no less? Breathtaking. I stared at that thing for hours before I even cracked the spine.”
-Fin Fang Doom

Infinite Crisis #7

“Best cover goes to “Infinite Crisis #7,” take your pick of which variant. They’re both amazing.”
-Doom DeLuise

The real artists

“Learning about how many artists have lackeys who draw their backgrounds. It reminds me of when I learned that the guy who wrote the Backstreet Boys’ songs wrote Bon Jovi’s comeback hits. If you’re going to get credit for being the artist, do your own work. If two people do the work of one person, come up with some cool mysterious code name for your creative union. But don’t pose for your geeky fan mugshots in the Wizard Top 10 if you don’t do your own work, you little turd.”
— Jim Doom

The Goon/American Virgin

“Way back when, The Goon was one of my favorite series. Funny, silly and full of zombie-killin’ goodness, it was a highlight of whatever week it hit the shelves. Those days are gone, and I’m starting to be convinced they’ll never return. The series was even worse this year, hitting a nadir with the cosmically unfunny Dwight T. Albatross Goon Noir issues. But perhaps even worse was American Virgin, a series that could have been inventive and deep, but instead hit every dumb cliche and devolved into a sputtering mess.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

X3

“X-Men: The Last Stand could have been great. Then they gave it to Brett Ratner instead of Matthew Vaughn.”
— Doominator

Civil War

“Marvel had me going for a while there. Civil War was very good up until the delay, and then everything went to hell. The mini-series started making no sense, and Marvel kept churning out a ridiculous amount of crossovers that really didn’t need to exist. We’ve gotten a few really good stories out of the whole thing, but it just seems like there’s been a whole lot more bad than there’s been good.”
— Fin Fang Doom

DC’s wussy heroes

“I was horribly disappointed with Nightwing, Flash, and Ion. They should team up and form their own supergroup of crybaby understudies. You could seriously swap any one of those three idiots and you’d have the same exact series. I’m a 20-something kid trying to find his place in the world. I don’t need to read about that in comic books!”
— Doom DeLuise