2007: Crap in Review part one

Well, that's another year down. One step closer to death.

It was a good year for my personal favorite hobby. A lot of good comics were made and read by moi, and a lot of talented people deserve to get a lot of credit for the swell stuff they created. I've always been a big fan of "best of" lists -really just lists in general- so I thought it would be fun to come up with a somewhat comprehensive list of my favorite (and least) things (and people) of the past year.

One thing to bear in mind is that I don't claim to judge these things on any basis other than the fact that I like 'em. They might not be the best written or the most thought provoking things out there but I'm grading everything on how much I enjoyed or was moved by it rather than the craft involved though in most cases there is a considerable amount of genuine talent involved.

My 17 Favorite Titles of 2007

As it is I'm leaving a lot of good stuff off here. The titles listed are my personal favorites of the year and are in no particular order. If I had to pick my absolute favorite I'd probably go with Green Lantern. It just didn't get any better than that this past year.

Batman: This has been a decent comic since Grant Morrison took over with touches of greatness thrown in along the way. I thought the Batmen murder mystery story was exceptionally strong and have really dug some of the issues individually. Taken as a whole though this is a good title simply because Morrison gets Batman/Bruce Wayne better than any writer in the last 10 years. I love the James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes meets Bruce Lee vibe of the whole thing.

Ultimate Spider-Man: I'm not a huge Brian Michael Bendis fan, and I really don't see the need for the Ultimate universe as a whole but golly do I love this title. I actually backtracked this past summer and read the entire series from the start all over again and I enjoyed it twice as much the second time. This past year saw the end of Bagley's run as artists, the start of Immonen's, the awesome Marvel Knights story arc, and the release of the Clone Saga trade. Clone Saga was just spectacular. If you haven't read that trade run out and pick it up.

Booster Gold: Geoff Johns is my favorite comic book writer and Booster Gold is one of my favorite characters so naturally this title was an easy fit for me. I love the time traveling antics and the done-in-one-but-not-quite story telling but most of all I just love the super heroics. This is pure superhero fun. The Killing Joke issue (#5 I believe) was one of the best comics released this past year and the upcoming 10 years late Zero Hour crossover is the comic I'm most looking forward to this month. I love this book, and so should you.

Fantastic Four: I'd never read anything Dwayne McDuffie had written until his Secret War sequel who's name escapes me. After that, Justice League and Fantastic Four I've become a fan. I also love Paul Pelletier's work on this book. It's good to see him on an ongoing after he left She Hulk. Fantastic Four should always be about family, exploration and adventure. Mark Waid got it and so do this creative team.

Thunderbolts: One of the first series' I went back and collected floppies of was the original Kurt Busiek run on Thunderbolts. Up until the midpoint of the Nicieza relaunch I had read pretty much everything they had appeared in. Ellis gets the team's concept better than even Busiek did. I was expecting this book to be incredibly dark and though at times it is, I really like the whole feel of it. Like the Dirty Dozen meets Justice League.

All Star Superman: Another Morrison title. First off, the artwork by Frank Quitely is evocative of every silver age Superman story ever told while doing something completely, bizarrely different. Grant Morrison has this way of throwing insane, off the wall ideas at you one after the next and making them stick. I love the silver age wackiness. I love the more heartfelt moments like the death of Pa Kent. I appreciate the respect paid to the characters. I also have to give credit for the coloring of Jamie Grant. This book has such a unique look. Familiar but brand new at once. This is the best Superman book currently publish

Invincible: The last year wasn't especially kind to Invincible fans in terms of the release schedule. However, the quality of the book continues to rise issue by issue. The whole book seems to be coming toward another major turning point and the approaching Viltrumite threat is looming like a hurricane. There isn't much you can say about this title that hasn't been said a hundred times before. Great art by Ryan Ottley, wonderful writing by Robert Kirkman and fantastic coloring as usual by Bill Crabtree. This was actually the first comic that I really paid attention to the color palette and I continue to be impressed every issue.

Immortal Iron Fist: I'm a trade waiter when it comes to most Marvel books these days (mostly due to financial reasons), so I'm coming to this title late in the game. I love it. I've already recommended it to friends and family. The pencil work by David Aja perfectly suits the kung fu action and word perfect writing by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction. Danny Rand, for the first time to me, is finally a cool character. I love the history they've created for the Iron Fist legacy and I personally thought the Orson Randall character from the Death of an Iron Fist story arc was one of the coolest characters of the last year.

The Brave and the Bold: It's Mark Waid and George Perez writing old school superhero stories with everything thrown in 'cept the kitchen sink (which may very well be floating around in one of those insanely detailed pages Perez draws) and starring practically every character in the DCU. It's not for everyone, you almost need to have either grown up on the old stuff or have a love for that style of storytelling, but in terms of talent involved you can't beat this title.

Fables: Consistently my favorite non-superhero book. Like a Disney movie for adults with dense plotting, strong characters, beautiful artwork (including most of the fill in artists) and the most gorgeous covers in comics. Bill Willingham has created probably the richest and deepest worlds in fiction. His ability to take previously created characters in crazy new directions in incredible. Bigby, Snow White, and Boy Blue have all had fantastic starring turns along with characters like Aladdin and Mowgli. Frankly if you're not reading this book it's a crime.

Daredevil: Brian Michael Bendis did a lot to wreck the life of Matt Murdock/Daredevil, from marrying him off to outing him in the press to killing off members of the supporting cast. Now it's Brubaker's turn and he has proved in his first year and a half that he is more than capable of screwing up the guy's life just as well. From "killing" Foggy to giving back Murdock's secret identity back to him by way of putting him in debt to Kingpin things just aren't looking up for our poor hero. That's just the way I like it. Also, Brubaker brings something to the table that was sadly lacking through much of Bendis' run... a sense of fun. I can't leave out the work of Michael Lark who I've been following since Gotham Central. As much as I hated to see him leave that title, seeing him on this one more than makes up for it.

Action Comics: Geoff Johns and Dick Donner's initial arc still hasn't come to a close but the subsequent stories have been fun. The beautiful work of Eric Powell on the Bizzarro World story more than made up for the underwhelming storyline and the current Legion of Superheroes arc is one of the best Superman stories in years. If nothing else the art of Action since the new creative team took over has been among the best I've seen. Kubert, Powell, and now Gary Frank have all done an amazing job on the title. Plus, Geoff Johns just gets Superman and what makes a good Superman story and that's what makes me think in the next year this book will become the best ongoing Superman book out there.

Captain America: Like Johns with Superman, Brubaker gets what makes a good Captain America story. Apparently it's his death. Though I'm still not entirely sold on the need to kill of Steve Rogers this title is consistently amazing. Steve Epting, and Mike Perkins deliver beautiful visuals, Brubaker writes incredible, action packed, mystery tinged stories and they do it all with the title character not even appearing in the book. This is a first right? It'd be like making a John Wayne movie where the Duke never makes an appearance yet gets top billing. And they make it work.

Justice Society of America: I've loved this book since James Robinson and David Goyer were writing it and the one year later relaunch has only amplified those feelings. The legacy characters (Flash, Wildcat, Green Lantern) get a chance to shine, newer characters are stepping to the forefront (Citizen Steel, Damage, Cyclone) and there is a sense of history involved with this book that no other has. It's been this way since it launched back in the late nineties. That's really something. I hope Geoff Johns never leaves this book. I'm gonna mention Eaglesham's work later in this massive tome so here I'll just say that the cover work by Alex Ross is probably the best work he's ever done. He has a love for these characters that shines through. This is actually my favorite book and at the rate it's going I don't see that changing any time soon.

Green Lantern: I really hadn't been all that impressed with this title until the One Year Later jump. I don't know what it was about that leap in time that made Geoff Johns step up his game but Green Lantern has been smacking pretty much every other book on the stands on the back of the head since. The Cyborg Superman story was great, followed by the Wanted: Hal Jordon story which was preceded by the Star Saphire story and then Sinestro Corps. War. I make no attempt to hide the fact that the later story actually gave me goose bumps and nearly brought me to tears on more than one occasion. Any book that can turn me into a blubbering, neanderthalic, geek has to be worthy of the word "great".

Justice: Like Ultimates this series was slow to release but never failed to disappoint. Alex Ross turned out the best painted work of his career probably thanks to the fact that he didn't handle the pencil work this time around. The story was campy as all get out, reminding me more than anything of a modernized Superfriends story but then again that was probably the point. This would be the book to give some kid who loves the Justice League based on the cartoon and the old Superfriends show. It's idealized, mythical, and fun.

52: There wasn't a chance I would leave this series off this list. I've already written about it here so I don't have too much more to say. Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and Keith Giffen should all be given some sort of medal for this project.