Category: year in review – 2006

Comics is in a full-fledged era of superstar creators, with swelling ranks of talent that it greatly overflows that esteemed cadre of competence, Wizard’s Top 10 List. While fans and the shills at Wizard go far and wide to pump up a writer’s work, some of their choices aren’t justified. Here are those whose output didn’t match the hype.

Joss Whedon

“Right now, I’d say the writer who I’ve been most disappointed with is Joss Whedon. I have not been enjoying Astonishing X-Men. I thought that Hellfire Club arc was just annoying.”
— Jim Doom

Cop Out, star writer of Cop Out: The Series

“I don’t pay attention to what other people are saying about this sort of thing.”
— Doom DeLuise

Grant Morrison

“I’m not really certain where all of Grant Morrison’s hype comes from. Looking back, the only thing he’s ever done that I’ve truly enjoyed was New X-Men. All-Star Superman certainly wasn’t any good when I tried it (although it sounds as if it’s much better now). And Batman is just plain bad. I don’t care what Doominator says, that guy’s just not very good.”
— Fin Fang Doom

“Call me sacrilegious if you will, but Morrison’s work has been really, really lacking this year (and the trend dates back at least to the crap that was Sea Guy). But he took his overratedness to a new level in 2006. His ballyhooed Batman effort has been superficial and delayed, Seven Soldiers was typically inscrutable and all of his thumbprints on 52 have been annoying. For a sample of this, read any of the outer space crap or the breaking-the-fourth-wall moments, most notable in #24, which was spoiled by Ambush Bug’s narrative intrusions.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

There’s nothing better than flipping open a page in the latest funny book and seeing a great surprise, a complete shock that’s both fulfilling and opens the door to a whole new realm of possibilities. Below are what we considered to be the exact opposite of that. And, kudos to Marvel, their Mega Event brought the most vitriolic unity we’ve seen since Bruce Jones.

Thor is a clone, Civil War #4

“After two months of waiting on one of the best cliffhangers of the year, it turns out the Thor that returned on the last page of Civil War #3 wasn’t actually Thor, but a clone of Thor programmed by Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic to murder people. Ignoring the logistics of cloning a god and programming a clone (who’s a cyborg now, I believe) and re-creating Mjolnir, that’s just an enormous cop-out. And so the downward spiral of Civil War begins.”
— Fin Fang Doom

Fantastic Four no more, Civil War #4

“This was right up there on the list of my least favorite issues of last year. And while there was lots to hate, I just couldn’t get past the manner in which Sue defected from Reed, her family and her team. It was classlessly handled, and only came about as the result of every character in the Marvel U suddenly and drastically changing in character.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

Spider-Man’s big reveal, Civil War #2

“It wasn’t until later that I read the issues of “Amazing Spider-Man” where they tried to justify his de-masking for Civil War, but it made a bit of sense. Not much, but a bit. Anyway, the first time I saw it happen, on the last page of that issue of Civil War, whichever issue it was, I was quite angry. It seemed totally out of character. I still don’t agree with it, at all.”
— Doom DeLuise

Every good comic series builds up to a nice surprise, whether it be the unveiling of Batman’s son or the grand revelation that Rictor likes dudes. Okay, so not every twist is a good one. But here’s our picks for the best of the year.

The Joker gets to play, Infinite Crisis #7

“Here’s what I had to say in May: After a final showdown with Batman, Alexander Luthor somehow manages to evade death and even evade capture. He’s going to get away with everything, and come back down the road to try it all again. Or so he would have if he wouldn’t have made one major mistake. As Lex Luthor tells the son of his Earth-3 counterpart, “You made a lot of mistakes. You underestimated Superman. Superboy. Me. But the biggest one? You didn’t let The Joker play.” With an acid-spraying flower, an electro-joy-buzzer, and a big friggin’ gun, The Joker puts an end to the greatest threat the DC Universe has ever known. And while he only appeared in a handful of panels in the entire Infinite Crisis, he manages to steal the show at the end.”
— Fin Fang Doom

ASSBAR vanishes!

“When DC went an entire year without publishing a single issue of All-Star Batman and Robin. Thank you, guys.”
— Doom DeLuise

Ultimate Cop Out

“Not true twists, but Ultimates 2 had a great way of building everything to a head. The traitor was sort of obvious, but Tony shooting her wasn’t as much.”
— Doominator

Foggy, alive?

“It’s really hard to pull the wool over comics readers’ eyes with how quickly everything leaks on the Internet. I was fully surprised by both of Infinite Crisis’ big reveals – Alex Luthor as villain and the Joker’s revenge – but nothing caught me off guard as much as Foggy Nelson’s return to the land of the living.”
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

“When Foggy is revealed to be alive and in witness protection. I don’t know why, but I just figured Foggy was really dead. So I was pumped when he was alive because he was alive, but I was extra pumped because of how many potential storylines that revelation opened up – and that’s what a good twist should do.”
— Jim Doom

Who doesn’t love buying graphic novels? They tell a whole story in one volume, and more often than not they’re cheaper page-for-page than buying individual issues. Sometimes they even have pretty covers that won’t bend if you accidentally sit on them. So hooray for graphic novels!

Infinite Crisis Hardcover

“‘Infinite Crisis’ is my favorite. The hardcover, while not something I’d ever go out and buy, has some interesting new fix-ups.”
-Doom DeLuise

“I didn’t buy it, but I’m glad that they fixed some problems in the Infinite Crisis collection.”
-Jim Doom

American Virgin

“‘American Virgin’ is the only collection I really waited for, and I really enjoyed the book. I don’t find it on the shelves often enough to get the issues, so it was good catch up time.”
-Doominator

Pride of Baghdad

“I read a whole lot of GNs this year for my day job of reviewing comics. And even with a wealth of material to draw from, nothing beat out Brian K. Vaughn’s Pride of Baghdad. The book provided one of the most original statements on the Iraq war, had beautiful art and packed an emotional punch almost never seen in the comics.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

Absolute Kingdom Come

“Kingdom Come was a great comic story, one of the best ever, and no one deserved the over-sized, hardcover treatment more than Alex Ross. But the real treasure of this collection isn’t the story itself, but the accompanying Apocrypha. Character designs, a family tree, promotional artwork, interviews, commentary–quite simply some of the best extras ever thrown into a collected edition.”
-Fin Fang Doom

Usually by the time a trade comes around, you know if it’s worth buying or not. So it’s kind of hard to come up with a worst collection. Looks like its more “collections that annoy us” than anything else. Of course, we can always count on Jean-Claude to actually read the graphic novels none of the rest of us buy and be disappointed with them.

Infinite Crisis Hardcover

“The Infinite Crisis collection. What a rip-off to make people buy it twice to get the proper story. If you’re going to do a story, get it right the first time. That’s like when bands release their greatest hits knowingly leaving off some of their best songs because they know you’ll feel compelled to buy the next version of their greatest hits when it comes out a few years later. Okay it’s not really exactly like that, but both things are irritating.”
-Jim Doom

Cop Out Vol. 1

“No worst, really, but I don’t tend to buy random collections.”
-Doominator

The Runaways Digests

“I want full-sized trades, dammit! I want to see the artwork the way it was originally presented. I don’t want to have to squint to read the balloons. But I’m not going to get what I want because Marvel’s catering to the manga crowd with these things.”
-Fin Fang Doom

Stagger Lee

“I had high hopes for the Image book Stagger Lee, which details the true story behind a famed song that’s seen thousands of incarnations. But writer Derek McCullough never found his stride, so that the narrative gave way to a musical textbook.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

Relaunches and new series were a dime a dozen in 2006. From DC’s One Year Later and Marvel’s annual X-Men reboot to returns of The Spirit, the New Universe and everyone’s favorite villain Rob Liefeld Onslaught, you seemingly couldn’t toss a cat in a comic book store without hitting a new title or an old one with a completely new twist.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis

“Nobody liked the old Aquaman. Nobody. He was just some guy who talked to fishes and lived underwater yet still got to hang out with the big boys in the JLA. Lame. So what makes this new Aquaman, who seems to be just some guy who talks to fishes and lives underwater, interesting? Kurt Busiek, that’s what. I can’t find the words to describe how much fun Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis has been, but the mere fact that Aquaman is on a ‘Best of’ list of any kind is pretty damn impressive.”
-Fin Fang Doom

The Spirit

“I’m sure there’s something out there I enjoyed a little more, but I really was happy to see a new version of The Spirit, especially in the capable hands of Darwyn Cooke.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

Cop Out: The Series

“I don’t have a new favorite.”
-Doom DeLuise

X-Factor

“‘X-Factor’ has continued to be an impressive slow burner in the Marvel stable.”
-Doominator

Ghost Rider

“Ghost Rider. This book has the perfect creative team to relaunch the character and the perfect guy on the bike with their resurrection of Johnny Blaze. It references previous Ghost Rider material but it’s accessible for people who’ve never read it. And Mark Texeira’s art is just something amazing to look at, even if you don’t care what the words are about.”
-Jim Doom

Despite everyone apparently agreeing that the worst comics of 2006 had Nightwing on the cover, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the worst relaunch or new series of the year. A whole lot of suck at the tale end of the year made quite a big impact.

Onslaught Reborn

“For Marvel, 2006 seemed to be a year when the company fell back on the idea of having anniversary events. Sadly, they all sucked. While newuniversal was pretty bad, taking home the cake is Onslaught Reborn. Flipping through the pages was like one big kick to the groin. I hate to criticize Jeph Loeb, but this was a terrible project to get involved with. My wild theory is that perhaps the Powers That Be wanted to publish something reminiscent of the mid-1990s craptacular to remind everyone of how great things are now.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

newuniversal

“The ‘New Universe’ relaunch has not. The one shots were poorly done, and it all reeks of ‘Why?'”
-Doominator

Batman Confidential

“Batman Confidential. Man, that first issue was awful. I hope it never comes back. I used to love Whilce Portacio too, but his art stunk.”
-Jim Doom

The Flash

“‘Flash: The Fastest Man Alive,’ hands down. I keep buying it, and I keep kicking myself for it, as the series is just bowling-shoe ugly, both in plot and art. Turning the Flash into a sad-sack namby-pamby is enough to make me want to kill somebody. The Flash is supposed to be confident, cocky, sure of himself–not some wimpy little emo-kid who doesn’t know how to use his powers (or who’s too afraid to do so). Come on!”
-Doom DeLuise

Nightwing

“During Infinite Crisis, Nightwing was friggin’ sweet. DC had finally elevated him to the status he deserved as one of the premier superheroes in their universe. Then they made the mistake of not killing him. The Bruce Jones-written arc on Nightwing was just bad. Bad, bad, bad. The villains were bad, the supporting characters were bad, the characterization of Dick Grayson was bad, the dialogue was bad, and the art was bad. You should never wish one of your favorite characters had died, but death would have been preferable to seeing Nightwing go through this relaunch.”
-Fin Fang Doom

In this era of series written in five-issue chunks for the trades, it’s easy to think of comics no longer as a media of singular issues. But, amid this stream of epic events and ongoing series, we were able to pick out a few single issues that resonated on their own.

Infinite Crisis #4

Way back in January, I declared Infinite Crisis #4 the Best. Issue. Ever, and I stand by that one year later (okay, not “ever,” but definitely “of the year”). So much stuff happened in Infinite Crisis #4 that it boggles the mind. Just go back and read the thing, because I certainly can’t do it justice.
— Fin Fang Doom

Cop Out #1

I’m going to be lazy and declare a tie between Wolverine #49, the Joker / Robin issue of Detective written by Paul Dini, Superman / Batman Annual #1, and the issue of New Avengers that was the Captain America solo issue.
— Jim Doom

Wolverine #41

I really, really enjoyed the relaunch of Jonah Hex and how it was written as standalone issues. Any of the first run that featured art by Luke Ross could be considered as my choice for runner-up. Much like last year, though, when Wolverine featured a haunting story set in a concentration camp, everyone’s favorite mutant had the best single issue this year in an unusually somber tale. Much like last year, it threw Logan on a special mission into a dangerous area with a clear objective. This time, it was to rescue an infant in war-torn Africa. While the writing was fine but not as good as that issue from last year, C.P. Smith’s art was so striking that I can still remember most of the pages, even though I haven’t read the book in several months.
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

Villains United Special

Bringing in Doomsday at the very end made me hop out of my seat. At the very end, when all the heroes they can muster stand up against nearly every villain in the DCU, it made me swell up with excitement, and, in a weird way, pride. Yes, seeing Martian Manhunter stare down a crowd consisting of monsters like Bane and Doomsday made me appreciate his bravery. It reminds me of why I enjoy comic books.
— Doom DeLuise

As with last year, when Reginal Hudlin pulled down his pants and pushed The Other into the mouths of comics fans far and wide, the Doomers came to a consensus on the most egregious writing of 2006. Come on down, Mr. Bruce Jones! You dropped a grade-A stink bomb onto the world with a wholly misbegotten run on Nightwing. Perhaps this was just fitting retribution, since Nightwing should’ve died in the Crisis. But still, it takes something special to turn a beloved character into scrawls on the crapper wall.

Nightwing #???

If Bruce Jones wrote it, you can bet your bottom dollar that I hated it. The single worst issue of the year was probably when that dumb-ass paraded Dick Grayson out in front of a fashion audience dressed in the new Nightwing fashion apparel. That was disgraceful. It made it hard for me to justify spending money on comics.
— Doom DeLuise

Nightwing #124

The issue of Nightwing where there were 3 Nightwings and some monster ate Jason Todd and pooped him out as a rock or something like that, and then Jason Todd hatched out of the rock and was able to eat and poop other people.
— Jim Doom

If Dick Grayson were a real person, I would send him flowers for the treatment Jones gave him. As if it wasn’t enough to ruin one character, Jones also tainted Jason Todd in one fell swoop. Nice work, Bruce.
— Jean-Claude Van Doom

The worst issue of the Bruce Jones-penned Nightwing was certainly the last issue, #124. What makes that issue stand out amongst the half-dozen or so he wrote? Well, the story arc Jones was writing ended the previous issue. Pretty definitively ended, with the villains being defeated and the heroes triumphing and whatnot. The Jones continues the story into the next issue. It was a complete waste of 22 pages and my $2.99. This issue had no reason to exist, and my life is poorer for having read it.
— Fin Fang Doom

“I don’t pay attention to marketing.” That’s what Doom DeLuise had to say about this category. But sometimes marketing is so bad or just so annoying you can’t help but notice it.

One Year Later

“DC’s One Year Later and 52. While they seemed like good ideas at the first, and they’ve definitely been editorial feats, I have to wonder if they’re worth it. The gimmicks saddled the creative teams with not being able to use certain characters and only being able to use certain others. I’ve only stuck with 52 because I’m sort of a completist. I’d like to see the sales figures and how they’ve fallen off.”
-Jim Doom

Online Promotion

“Trailers need to go. They look like somebody just vomited all over the Ken Burns Effect on iMovie.”
-Doominator

Guiding Light

“Marvel’s crossover with that soap opera (I’ve forgotten which one) is just hugely dumb and was handled poorly, as if there was a good way to handle it.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom

“It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall in the meeting where this gem was introduced. No one had ever thought to cross-promote a comic book and a soap opera, and for good reason: the demographics don’t cross over at all. Yet Marvel and Guiding Light teamed up for a storyline on the show and a back-up story in assorted Marvel comics. Yet Marvel never mentioned in their comics when the show was airing until a week after it aired. And somehow, despite spending $50 a week on comics, at least half of that on Marvel stuff, I never once stumbled upon the back-up story. I can’t even fathom how Marvel could have bungled this one as much as they did. Oh, and apparently the only fans more rabid than fanboys are soap opera junkies, and they didn’t seem to like it anymore than we did.”
-Fin Fang Doom