Best of the Best 2009

[RedRight88]

DC:

Writer- Geoff Johns (Adventure Comics, Flash Rebirth)
Artist- Francis Manapul (Advenutre Comics)
Character/Team- Legion of Superheores
Storyline/Title- Legion of Three Worlds


Marvel:

Writer- Ed Brubaker (Captain America)
Artist- Mike Deodato (Dark Avengers)
Character/Team- Norman Osbourne
Storyline/Title- The Dark Tower (three series came out this year)


Other:

Writer: Christos Gage/Chuck Dixon (Man with No Name/Good, the Bad, & the Ugly)
Artsist: Bagus Hutomo (Shrapnel)
Character/Team- The Man with No Name
Storyline/Title- Futurama

[jonah]

BEST OF 2009

DC:
Writing - Geoff Johns (Superman - Secret Origin)
Art - Ivan Reis (Titans - Blackest Night Mini Series)
Character/Team - Doom Patrol
Storyline/Title - Blackest Night / The mini-series

Marvel:
Writing - Abnett & Lanning (Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings)
Art - STEVE EPTING (Marvel Project)
Character/Team - Guardians of the Galaxy
Storyline/Title - Old Friends and Enemies (Captain America 46 - 48 )

Indie:
Writing - Jay Faerber (Dynamo 5)
Art - MAHMUD A. ASRAR (Dynamo 5)
Character/Team - The Paradigm (Irredeemable)
Storyline/Title - Nothing Stood out (in my mind)

[IanG]

BEST OF 2009

DC:
Writing – Bill Willingham (Fables)
Art – Mark Buckingham (Fables, The Literals)
Character/Team – Warlord / Tiny Titans (Johnny DC)
Storyline/Title – North 40 (Wildstorm) / Madame Xanadu (Vertigo)

Marvel:
Writing - DnA, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Nova/War of Kings/Guardians of the Galaxy)
Art - Paul Pelletier (War of Kings)
Character/Team – Nova / Guardians of the Galaxy
Storyline/Title – War of Kings / X-Force

Indie:
Writing – Robert Kirkman, Walking Dead (Image)
Art – Steve Pugh, Hotwire (Radical)
Character/Team – Hellboy / B.P.R.D. (Dark Horse)
Storyline/Title – Locke & Key: Head Games (IDW) / The Sword (Image)

[Frank Castle]

bump since the end of the yr is getting close!

[80sJunkie]

BEST OF 2009

DC:
Writing - G Johns for the best mix of quantity and quality.
Art - I'm going with J Williams III, because in Detective it is almost like you are getting two different artists on the Batwoman story. I will buy the regular issues and the hardcover for this story arc. I never do that. Props to Ivan Reis, my second choice.
Character/Team - Power Girl. Reinvestment in this character has been fresh and a lot of fun. My favorite new on-going title of the year.
Storyline/Title - Blackest Night mini. Latest couple of issues had back-to-back "wow!" moments at the end. Hope it keeps coming!

Marvel:
Writing - Fred Van Lente is the master at writing what feels like real "comic book" stories. Not tv seasons, not movie treatments, not novels - friggin comic books!
Art - Steve McNiven for Old Man Logan with honorable mention to Gene Colan's Captain America one-shot.
Character/Team - New Avengers
Storyline/Title - Old Man Logan

Indie:
Writing - Robert Kirkman on Walking Dead. Readers already knew the reveal at the end of issue 66, but reading it almost felt like it was new.
Art - Dave Sims on Glamourpuss. I love the lessons in art history and technique. Special shoutout to Dave Petersen and Mousegaurd, but there were only two issues this year.
Character/Team - Walking Dead
Storyline/Title - Walking Dead

[BobBretall]

Post today!!!!

We're recording the 2009 "Year in Review" tomorrow (Jan 2nd) and will mention comments from this thread on the show.....

[comicm]

DC:
Writing - Geoff Johns (Adventure Comics, Blackest Night, Green Lantern, Justice Society of America, Action Comics, Flash Rebirth, Superman Secret Origin)
Art - Guillem March (Gotham City Sirens)
Character/Team - Justice Society of America
Storyline/Title - Green Lantern Corps

Marvel:
Writing - Abnett and Lanning (Nova, War of Kings, Guardians of the Galaxy, Authority)
Art - Paul Pelletier (War of Kings, other Space books)
Character/Team - Guardians of the Galaxy
Storyline/Title - War of Kings

Indie:
Writing - Mike Costa, Christos Gage (GI JOE Cobra)
Art - Erik Larson (Savage Dragon, Image United)
Character/Team - Chuckles (GI Joe)
Storyline/Title - Chew
Take Care,

Mike Myers

[HassanT]

I always have a hard time with these lists. It doesn't seem fair to pick only one.

DC:
Writing - Geoff Johns - This was his year.
Art - Frank Quietly.
Character/Team - Batman and Robin
Storyline/Title - Blackest Night

Marvel:
Writing -Hickman
Art - Hitch (I really loved his FF and Captain America Reborn)
Character/Team - Dark Avengers
Storyline/Title - Secret Warriors

Indie:
Writing - Brubaker (his work on Criminal and Incognito is just amazing)
Art -Riley Rossmo
Character/Team - Lawless from Criminal
Storyline/Title - Cowboy Ninja Viking

[BobBretall]

Indie:
Writing - Brubaker (his work on Criminal and Incognito is just amazing)
Art -Riley Rossmo
Character/Team - Lawless from Criminal
Storyline/Title - Cowboy Ninja Viking

Even though creator owned, I'm not sure I'd personally count Criminal as an "Indie" book. Given it comes out from Marvel, lots of people buy it who would not buy the same exact book had it been published by Image (for instance).

[HassanT]

Indie:
Writing - Brubaker (his work on Criminal and Incognito is just amazing)
Art -Riley Rossmo
Character/Team - Lawless from Criminal
Storyline/Title - Cowboy Ninja Viking

Even though creator owned, I'm not sure I'd personally count Criminal as an "Indie" book. Given it comes out from Marvel, lots of people buy it who would not buy the same exact book had it been published by Image (for instance).

Fair enough. I give best writer to Terry Moore and best character Julie Martin from Echo.

[adampasz]

I just listened to the year end show. Great episode!

I think for next year, it would be good to clarify what qualifies as Indie. I filed Vertigo under Indie because that's how you guys categorize it on Weekly Spotlight. Just trying to follow the format.

I guess I'm in the minority in that I wasn't gaga over the art on Detective. While JH's work clearly exhibits impressive layout and design skills, I find it actually detracts from the story because it calls so much attention to itself. In my opinion, a great comic artist is most importantly a storyteller. The art should suck you into the imaginary world of the comic. Doug Mahnke at DC, Brad Walker on Guardians for Marvel, and Amy Hadley at Vertigo all achieve this by combining excellent composition, clear character gestures and expressions, detailed environments, and a sense of pacing.

[Frank Castle]

I got the show ready to go, hopefully sometime this weekend to give it a listen.

[JohnMayo]

I just listened to the year end show. Great episode!

I think for next year, it would be good to clarify what qualifies as Indie. I filed Vertigo under Indie because that's how you guys categorize it on Weekly Spotlight. Just trying to follow the format.

Glad you enjoyed the episode.

For the other category, it is anything not publisher by DC or Marvel. That is the rule we use on the Weekly Comics Spotlight. (We sometimes break that rule when there isn't a title not published by DC or Marvel that we both get and want to discuss, in which case we usually pick a WildStorm, Vertigo or Icon or other non-mainstream DC or Marvel title.)

[HassanT]

I just listened to the year end show. Great episode!

I think for next year, it would be good to clarify what qualifies as Indie. I filed Vertigo under Indie because that's how you guys categorize it on Weekly Spotlight. Just trying to follow the format.

Glad you enjoyed the episode.

For the other category, it is anything not publisher by DC or Marvel. That is the rule we use on the Weekly Comics Spotlight. (We sometimes break that rule when there isn't a title not published by DC or Marvel that we both get and want to discuss, in which case we usually pick a WildStorm, Vertigo or Icon or other non-mainstream DC or Marvel title.)

I had a brain fart when I nominated Brubaker for Criminal for Other. I been listening to your show every week, I am not sure how I forgot that. It didn't help that I didn't think there was any independent comic that rocked my boat in 2009. Although, I just read the first Chew trade (which I purchased in November). If I had that trade before I sent my nominations in, I would have picked Chew as best Other book. It was a fantastic read.

I do think when comparing Marvel vs DC sales, DC sometimes gets the short end of the stick, when people forget about how diverse their line of comic books are when you include all the different publishing lines. You mentioned in the latest Mayo Report that Marvel is publishing more comic books per month than DC and therefore has the largest market share. It is even a bigger difference when you consider that Marvel publishes mainly super-hero comics while DC has their Vertigo and Wildstorm line (which is mostly game tie-ins now).

[JohnMayo]

I just listened to the year end show. Great episode!

I think for next year, it would be good to clarify what qualifies as Indie. I filed Vertigo under Indie because that's how you guys categorize it on Weekly Spotlight. Just trying to follow the format.

Glad you enjoyed the episode.

For the other category, it is anything not publisher by DC or Marvel. That is the rule we use on the Weekly Comics Spotlight. (We sometimes break that rule when there isn't a title not published by DC or Marvel that we both get and want to discuss, in which case we usually pick a WildStorm, Vertigo or Icon or other non-mainstream DC or Marvel title.)

I had a brain fart when I nominated Brubaker for Criminal for Other. I been listening to your show every week, I am not sure how I forgot that. It didn't help that I didn't think there was any independent comic that rocked my boat in 2009. Although, I just read the first Chew trade (which I purchased in November). If I had that trade before I sent my nominations in, I would have picked Chew as best Other book. It was a fantastic read.

I do think when comparing Marvel vs DC sales, DC sometimes gets the short end of the stick, when people forget about how diverse their line of comic books are when you include all the different publishing lines. You mentioned in the latest Mayo Report that Marvel is publishing more comic books per month than DC and therefore has the largest market share. It is even a bigger difference when you consider that Marvel publishes mainly super-hero comics while DC has their Vertigo and Wildstorm line (which is mostly game tie-ins now).

In my almost completely proverbial "spare time" I'm planning on reworking my number crunching system such that it can split things out by imprint. I think being able to see how Vertigo stands up by itself could be very interesting.

Based on an email from 80sJunkie, I'm also working on a section of the monthly Excel file that gives the averages for the publishers items on the top 300 list. But that too gets skewed by the imprints since the WildStorm and Vertigo titles tend to sell less than the DC Universe titles.