Series of the Year — The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
When they announced this title and showed the image for the first issue I was interested. This was at the beginning of my whirlwind romance with Mike Carey in 2009. We met in a couple of X-Men titles in 2007 and 2008, and I always liked what he had going on between the panels. But this year it was magic — magic and Tommy Taylor and a whole lot of literary references. I’m not going to pretend that I get all of them but I get enough that it enriches the work. And even if I didn’t know any of them, I would still be interested in this concept and committed to the series because of its excellent execution. The pages of internet reaction to this story are genius and show how much flexibility Mike Carey has as a writer. And Peter Gross is doing a fantastic job with clear, effective art, and solid sequential sequences. This is Vertigo’s next Y: The Last Man, Preacher, or Sandman. It’s that good.
Writer of the Year — Mike Carey
So, uh, based on what I just said about Mike Carey (basically implying that I want his word babies), this category is a no-brainer. Besides The Unwritten, Carey is writing my current-favourite X-Men title, X-Men Legacy, where he is not only telling entertaining stories about today’s X-Men, he is also fixing old continuity and making X-Men — as a franchise and cohesive narrative — better. This was also the year I caught up on Crossing Midnight and God Save the Queen, so we had a great year together. He’s one of the industry’s best and I don’t think people give him nearly enough credit.
Artist of the Year — J.H. Williams III
This man brings the medium to a new level that puts 80% of working artists out there to shame. This man thinks about his pages carefully, and constructs them masterfully. This man is the best artist working in 2009.
Cover of the Year— Incognito #6 by Sean Phillips
Phillips’ covers are consistently some of the best in comics. His Incognito covers were fantastic, with his use of sepia tones and only splashes of colour, but I think the cover to the finale is the best of the year.
Hero of the Year — Hank Pym
I’m not going to say that I liked every issue of The Mighty Avengers but I have really liked what Dan Slott, Brian Micahel Bendis, and Ed Brubaker have done with Hank Pym this year. Obviously Slott did all the heavy lifting there, but he’s been consistently painted as a guy who wants to be a hero, knows he hasn’t always been his best, and is working hard for a second chance.
Villain of the Year — Norman Osborn
He was a much better Tony Stark than Tony Stark was. By “Tony Stark” I mean guy who shows up in every book and acts like a douche bag. He’s crafty, media savvy, insane, and a lot of fun to see in charge of the world’s premier spy organization.
Splash Page of the Year — “Recoil” in Secret Warriors #4
I love when a splash page isn’t for an action shot. When it’s used as a story beat because you need to pause on this moment — and this is one of those pages. This page is an answer to an important question: Nick Fury is going to lead a team against a lot of men who he used to call comrades, “What are you going to feel when you put a bullet in one of those men, Nick.” Turn the page. Splash. Hold it. “Recoil.” And it’s one of my favourite moments of the year.
Fight of the Year — Batwoman vs Cult in Detective Comics #854
Part of me really hates that I’m including Williams on two art-centric categories. But I can’t think of a single other fight that stood out as much as this one. Notice how her boots are kicking two different guys in the face in two different panels and on two different pages? That’s brilliant and so well-executed. And then the action within the panels is vicious without being gory. I could stare at this page all day.
Saddest Cancellation— Agents of Atlas
There were only two books that I was following that were cancelled, this and Young Liars. Young Liars is a better comic but it had a satisfying conclusion — Agents of Atlas did not. And there’s a good reason, the story is still going. Jeff Parker is still writing the team as a backup in Incredible Hercules and there is a four-part Avengers mini-series coming out in January. And while those things are great, they aren’t this title as an ongoing.
Most Pleasant Surprise — S.W.O.R.D. and Dark X-Men
These titles both came in at the very end of 2009 and I wasn’t expecting much from either of them. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I bought them. There was some trigger, some pull, and I’m very happy it happened. Both are not what you expect and bring some humour into the mix. It’s really nice to see some series that go for the laughs as well as the punches.
Man Mike Carey is the X-Men Legacy guy? AND God Save the Queen? Impressive resume.
I like what they’ve done with Pym, but they’ve gone a bit far changing his character. That guy has NEVER been on par with Mr. Fantastic, but that’s the new billing. Come to think of it, they’re trying to pull that with Banner too…
You know what? Could someone just publish an awesome Brainiac 5 comic? I’d buy that. No, not R.E.B.E.L.S. that’s Brainiac 2 and it sucks.
I hear what Isaac is saying about Hank Pym. It seems like Slott has a bit of a crush on Pym so he’s trying to make him the BESTEST EVER! I generally don’t like it when writers do that…like, because someone is their favourite character they’re suddenly almost as smart as Reed Richards or a better fighter than Batman or whatever. Also, I gotta say, I quit Mighty Avengers because it was getting terrible, but I remember a few Hank Pym moments that were just not right. Saying “It’s on, BITCH” to Reed Richards being one of them. Really Dan Slott? Part of your strategy for making Hank Pym relevant in the Marvel Universe involves him talking like a 14 year old cheerleader? That being said, I like that he’s attempting to move him past his wife-slapping phase.
Miles, I wasn’t going to say anything about JH Williams III, as I’ve already bitched about how his art is different and beautiful, but I hate the way he lays out a page because it looks like it would make more sense if I was on acid. But best fight? Really? I look at that page and think, “What the hell is that?” and can’t turn the page fast enough. I DO see how she’s kicking two dudes at once on opposite pages; but I also see how one kick propels her victims face in a direction that physics tell me is impossible, and how the other kick isn’t a kick so much as a flirty little ballet move, and how her entire posture if you removed her two targets from the page would lead me to believe that she’s jumping over a hurdle rather than fighting for her life, and how the rest of the fight takes place in cramped monochrome lighting bolt panels that have no context to draw on and are drawn in such a way that it makes hard to make out the action, and finally, the one lighting bolt panel I CAN make out looks like she should be breaking her own wrist the way she’s hitting that guy.
I know you’re not alone in your praise for Williams’ style, but I can’t buy into it. I think part of the reason is that I really like fight scenes (in ALL mediums), and when looking at that page, I don’t feel like I’m watching a fight, I feel like I’m looking at a picture that is the result of a slightly imbalanced mural painter who was commissioned to paint a masterpiece that captures the essence of combat using only red and black paint.
I’m not trying to be mean or anything. And like I’ve said, Williams is a great artist, but I think his artistic layout style somewhat ruins the comic. It’s almost too visionary, if that makes any sense. Sometimes I don’t want to see a sprawling interpretive visual masterpiece that inspires all of mankind to better themselves; I just want to see a guy get kicked in the fucking face so hard it makes MY teeth hurt.
In other news, I’m probably going to pick up Unwritten at some point thanks to you.
Caesar, it’s not about realism. We’re talking about comics by Marvel and DC — realism went out the window 50 years ago. Realism walked out after Gamma Rays, Lightning bolts that cause super speed, aliens, and other tropes of our beloved medium.
For example, you’ve mentioned how it’s unrealistic that Kate looks like an albino. Kate is depicted as pale because she saw her mother and sister get shot in the head and all the colour left her face and she never got it back. That’s such a wonderful thing to say about her character. DC is a fairytale land, and if we’re going to believe in the last son of Krypton we might as well believe in that.
The kick she gives in the page graceful, but the action that’s happening in the panels isn’t necessarily happening at the exact same time. So, yeah, it’s unrealistic but there’s so much more to art than that. He’s playing with time and space and action in a way that’s light years ahead of anyone else. It’s a visual medium after all.
a-HEM lightning bolts PLUS random chemicals equals a very plausible method of gaining superspeed.
and no one’s gonna convince me otherwise.
of course gamma rays are the dumbest thing, of course that wouldn’t work.
No no, don’t say anything, I know you guys are rolling on the floor due to my being so funny.
I’m way too lame.
ANYyways Williams art is almost a new phase in comic book language, chiefly adding impressionistic effect via the relatively untapped medium of panel layout/border changes. That’s one of the great things about Miles is that he notices layouts a lot more than most people, so it makes perfect sense to me that Williams art speaks to him.
But as is ever the case, impressionism isn’t for everybody. And not only that, but since it is the starting exploration of a new visual language there is a lot of trial and error. Maybe lighting bolt panels to increase tension and excitement in a fight scene will catch on and we’ll see them everywhere, like sweat drops or speed lines. Those are really more manga/anime style examples, I resort to them because they’re pretty recognizable examples, but the point is, those visual conventions had to start somewhere.
Oh, I know it’s not happening at the same time, I have no problem with the background panels being snapshots of the fight. I never said I had a continuity problem with it or anything. It’s just the snapshots are hard to discern. Also, her movements are absurd and well, the fight itself looks absurd to me. Williams got so poetic and artistic with it that it resembled an interpretive dance performance of a fight than an actual fight. That’s why I can’t believe it’s your best fight scene. It’s just a pretty picture that doesn’t make a lot of sense and all it tells me is that Batwoman wins; which I knew was going to happen anyway. It’s just not an interesting fight scene. It’s a painting of a fight scene, if that makes any sense.
And, hold on, I never complained that Kate being an albino is unrealistic. Why would I do that? Redheads are normally pale and albinos exist in real life. What I said was, if I recall, it was a little unrealistic for her to be SUDDENLY albino, because she wasn’t coloured like that for the first year or two, but whatever, not a big deal — I think my main concern was that an albino redhead who puts on a leather suit and disguises herself with a red wig the exact same colour as her natural hair should look up the definition of the word ‘disguise.’ And I think I also said it would be unrealistic (and by that I mean “stupid” if Maggie Sawyer doesn’t immediately expect Kathy Kane is Batwoman the first time she sees Batwoman in action, because she knows Kane and how many athletic redheaded albino women are there in Gotham anyway? That hasn’t been an issue yet regardless.
Also, did you read a different comic than I did? I don’t collect Detective so I can’t go check, but Kathy Kane looked like an albino as a child, didn’t she? If she lost all colour in her face on the last panel, I did not get it at all…and I went back and looked because someone else (Sandra Yao?) said the same thing in her weekly comic review. I recall looking at that panel and saying, “I have no idea what she’s talking about.” Also, I don’t think she saw her mother and sister get shot, didn’t she have a bag over her head at the time? Either way, that’s not really a big deal — as I said, her albino status isn’t an issue for me. It’s just pretty poor luck for someone who wants to keep a secret identity.
And are you kidding? Comics NEED realism. Be very careful with the realism argument you’re presenting Miles, because it is an obscenely slippery slope. If you say things like “You believe Superman has all these powers, so there’s no point in being a stickler for realism”, then you might as well say “You believe Superman has all these powers so you might as well believe Shakira burst on the scene and defeated Lex Luthor with the power of Cinco De Mayo.”
Just because I accept that an irradiated spider bite can give you anything other than radiation poisoning does not mean I will accept that Barry Allen can’t cover a distance of 20 feet in the time it takes someone to say “Hey, it’s the Flash”, or that Ka-Zar can get punched in the face by Thanos without being immediately killed, or that Red Hulk can punch out the Watcher, all of which are stupid things that have actually happened.
If you want further evidence that we need to hold comics to a certain standard of realism or accountability, I will regretfully bring up One More Day and the famous words: “It’s magic, we don’t have to explain it.” I don’t even want to talk about that any further; it was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen happen in modern day comics. So fucking lazy I can’t stand it.
As a writer, have whatever cockamamie premise you want; set out whatever insane guidelines you like; but after that you need to STAY IN THOSE GUIDELINES. Because if a writer just changes the rules at a whim and does whatever the hell they want even if it makes no sense and isn’t “realistic” (within the confines of their own constructed reality) then the storytelling becomes pointless, because anything can happen at any time.
That is more or less my standard for comic book realism. I will believe a man is so tough he can withstand a tank shell, I will not believe that that same man will be hurt if he gets hit with a baseball. Know what I mean?
Oh, Isaac, you must have commented in the time I was writing my magnum opus of replies back to Miles up there. Didn’t read it until just now.
Anyway, I take issue with the implication that Williams is doing something new and innovative and exciting. Especially the words “new visual language”. People have been playing with borders and panels for as long as we’ve had them…although when I think of the person who does something the most similar to Williams, I think of Williams, which I suppose makes sense. His art wasn’t that much different in style than it was in Promethea, and that was what, 10 years ago?
David Mack and what’s his face…the guy who did Astonishing not too long ago…Italian name…Simone Bianchi, I think. Their borders are all over the place. I agree that Williams’ art is not the norm, but he’s not exactly reinventing the wheel here.
Interestingly, I didn’t like Bianchi’s layout style either. I dunno. I guess I like structure when I’m reading a story. I don’t like looking at a page and having to take a moment to figure out what the deuce is going on because there’s crap happening EVERYWHERE. It breaks immersion. One moment I’m all into it, the next I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be looking at. Very distracting.
Maybe I’m more of a story guy and Miles is more of an art guy.
I’m not necessarily saying that Williams is the head of any panel design movement, just that he is surely part of that emerging culture which can naturally be a period of quite a long time. In terms of art and comics, these kind of panel variations are VERY new.
But remember that these artists don’t work in a vacuum (most of them anyways) and so what one does influences the others and comes back at them in a friendly little cycle- so in that sense Williams IS as much the master of this panel language as anyone.
Yes, I’ve contradicted myself… I’d prefer to say I’ve given multiple sides to a discussion?
Plus I just like hearing myself talk.
We’ll talk about comic realism in another post, but it’s not hard to tell what’s going on in that page. She hits one guy with a Batrang, elbows one while breaking his wrist, kicks a couple people, punches the other in the face. It’s savage and awesomely-rendered fight scene. I don’t see what’s absurd about it at all.
I couldn’t disagree more about Williams flow in Detective, a style which I think has really evolved in the last 10 years (even in the last five since Desolation Jones). In the last seven issues of Detective Comics I can only think of one page where I didn’t know exactly what order to read the pages in.
Bianchi was a totally different story. That guy is a hack on every fucking level of his craft. He sacrifices good storytelling so he can throw some fucked up shapes on the page. Though, to be fair, drawing that terrible script would have been a challenge for anyone.
Ha ha, YES MILES. Give in to your hate!!
I have higher demands for fight scenes than most people, maybe that’s my problem. Or maybe I’m too set in my “panels go from left to right” ways. There are times in various other comics when they have panels that stretch across two pages; if it’s not demarcated well enough I just assume I should shift my eyes down to the next level of panels, and suddenly I’m reading two or three panels ahead and wondering what’s going on with the dialogue. Bendis does that all the time in all his comics and it frequently catches me.
So maybe the moral of the story is that I don’t know how to read comics more than one way.