Weekly Comic Book Review.com

FORWARD

Welcome to WCBR’s first comic book industry report card. In essence, this report card is a list of offerings we’ve enjoyed and disliked for the first half of 2008. There was definitely a lot of debate over each editor’s pick, and in the end we just decided to let everyone have their say. Our next report will come in December, so be on the look out for that.  Until then, enjoy!

BEST ON-GOING SERIES

Captain America - As much as I love my Spider-Man on a weekly basis, Captain America has been without a doubt, the most consistently good series for the past three years. While it may have slowed down here and there, the art has remained strong despite rotating artists and the stories engaging. - J. Montes

Captain America - Ed Brubaker’s Captain America series can do no wrong. How can you explain when a series actually improves when the titular hero is killed off? The plotline resembles the best political thrillers, though with twists only possible in a comic book. I am absolutely hooked on this series and if you aren’t reading Captain America, you really are missing out on something special. -Kyle Posluszny

Avengers: The Initiative - Be it artful comedy, touching romance, or simply amazing illustration, Slott, Gage and Caselli have delivered all of this without any of the big name draws of other Marvel books. Avengers: Initiative is a testament that you can have great action/ adventure, drama, intrigue, and humor without sacrificing story or character development. -Steven M. Bari

Thor - J. Michael Straczynski provdies flat out good story telling month in and month out. The mythic scope and humorous quality of this series makes it impossible not to enjoy. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the artwork (whether by Olivier Coipel or Marko Djurdjevic) is always top notch. Thor is the one series that I always get extremely excited about as the new issue release date approaches. - M. Staples

Punisher MAX - Garth Ennis continues his stellar work on the title many feel he was born to write. His final arc with The Punisher is definitely a sore spot for me since I’m not sure anyone can really fill those shoes. The consistency of his work has been unparalleled over the last several years. Not many could take a guy who started out as a second-rate Spidey villain and make him one of the most engaging and entertaining heroes. His ability to keep the character interesting and fresh over the years with all the many artists he’s worked with is impressive. - Ben Berger

BEST MINI-SERIES

TIE: The Twelve / Dan Dare - Not since Captain America, himself, have Golden Age characters been so complex and fascinating. The Twelve’s cast of characters are given full realization thanks to J. Michael Straczynski’s amazing scripts and the art by Chris Weston is unmatched. Anyone who’s looking to see a more diverse side of Garth Ennis should check out Dan Dare. It’s a sprawling, space war epic that’s smart, fun, and surprisingly devoid of the normal Ennis over-the-top violence and dark humor we’re used to. - J. Montes

TIE: The Twelve / Sky Doll - In good conscience I couldn’t possibly choose one over the other so I present you with a tie. The Twelve offers up some brilliant, cerebral character studies with a “heroes out of time” story that continues to get more and more compelling. Sky Doll is philosophical, satirical, controversial, vibrant, fresh, funny, disturbing, and incredibly entertaining. Both have been highlights of 2008 and well worth a look if you want some incredible, mature storytelling. -Kyle Posluszny

Secret Invasion - Marvel’s big event for 2008 certainly delivers in the story and action department. I’ve always been a fan of Brian Bendis’ work, but the intricate details he lays here and has laid for the past three years is a notch above his usual level of awesomeness. Secret Invasion seems to be the thing in comics that reminds me the most of LOST, and that is certainly a very good thing. I usually dislike Leinil Yu’s art, but his work here has me reconsidering my opinion. Without a doubt, Secret Invasion is the must read of 2008. - M. Staples

Batman After Midnight - I know we’re only two issues in, but this is an awesome book. It’s rare to find a writer and artist so in sync so quickly. - Ben Berger

BEST NEW SERIES

Kick-Ass - You don’t title a book “Kick Ass” unless you really mean it. And let me tell you, month after month, this book has floored me with its surprises. Mark Millar may play it up as a book “grounded in reality” but when you think about it, this book dares to cross every line (that modern society has drawn in the sand) with costly ramifications. This perverse take on heroism is one that will be scrutinized and debated for years.  - J. Montes

The Incredible Hercules - Hercules is a hilarious treat each and every month. The story of Herc and Amadeus Cho (with pup in tow) is one of the best buddy action-comedies to come along in quite some time. It’d make a hell of a movie actually… just keep Brett Ratner as far away as possible. -Kyle Posluszny

Invincible Iron Man - Not only is this series the perfect introduction for new fans who loved the movie, the story has me on the edge of my seat! It maintains many of elements that made the movie enjoyable, such as the use of terrorists as baddies, and the international flavor. The art may not be perfect, but it certainly isn’t horrible either, and the story makes up for any lacking in visuals. Though only a few issues in, it already has become one of my favorite monthly reads. - M. Staples

The Darkness - Michael Broussard’s pencils and Phil Hester’s writing bring new life to Jackie Estacado. The Darkness has a new-found control over his powers, and has moved down south to start a drug ring.  It’s a must for any fan of the series, and is new enough for new fans to jump right in. - Ben Berger

BEST STORY (OR STORY ARC)

All Star Superman #10 - I’m rarely moved by superhero comics, but Grant Morrison managed to do it with this issue. Superman is dying and instead of feeling sorry for himself, he spends as much time as possible to help those in need and to prepare the people for a world without a Superman. It’s a touching story that brings out the best of Superman’s nobilities. It also serves as a model for what all mankind should aspire to be. This is the best Superman story I’ve ever read. - J. Montes

Faith in Monsters/Caged Angels (Thunderbolts Arc) - Warren Ellis’ run on Thunderbolts has been nothing short of fantastic and it might have taken the crown of “Best Ongoing Series” IF his run had not just come to an end. While I have no doubt that Christos N. Gage will keep the Thunderbolts entertaining, it can’t possibly be as wonderfully chaotic without Ellis at the helm. In my opinion, the Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato Thunderbolts run is epic. This is a must read. -Kyle Posluszny

The Deep End (Wolverine: Orgins) - Leave it to Daniel Way to take a humorously violent character like Deadpool and add a subtext of psycho-pathos to what is essentially a Looney Tunes cartoon— with Wolverine as Elmer Fudd! It’s bloody, gruesome, and takes maybe twenty minutes to read all five issues, but its non-stop action and comedy that is brilliant and clever. -Steven M. Bari

Killed In Action (Avengers: The Initiative) - It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Avengers: The Initiative, and Killed In Action (issues #8-11) had me on the edge of my (proverbial) seat. Everything since issue one boiled down to this arc, and I knew that some of my favorite characters were going to die. In fact, my mantra before reading each issue in this arc was “Please don’t kill Cloud9, please don’t kill Cloud9…” Luckily she escaped the writer’s deathaxe, but not before defeating KIA in an insanely awesome way and sealing this arc as one of my favorite reads this year. - M. Staples

The Man Who Bought America (Captain America) - Brubaker’s stellar run has been one of the most consistent in recent memory. The twists come fast and frequently. The story never feels like it’s been done, and Bucky has become one of the best characters in comics. - Ben Berger

BEST ARTIST

Marcos Martin (Amazing Spider-Man) - As much as I hate retcons, I’ve been digging Amazing Spider-Man’s “Brand New Day”. But nothing prepared me for the onslaught I was in for when my eyes graced over Marcos Martin’s work in Amazing Spider-Man #559-561. His artwork is amazing on a technical level, but it’s his Steve Ditko sensibilities that make this book feel so “classic”. Throw in Dan Slott’s writing and you have the best BND story arc yet. - J. Montes

TIE: Stefano Caselli (Avengers: Initiative) and Mike Deodato (Thunderbolts) - This one I chose as a tie because both artists could not be more different, yet have been so spectacular this year. Caselli’s work with Avengers: The Initiative is top-notch, while Deodato has crafted some great covers as well as putting in some excellent work on the Thunderbolts. -Kyle Posluszny

Mike Choi (Uncanny X-Men) - When I first picked up X-Men # 204, Choi’s amazing style and form, as well as his level of detail and perspective blew me away. His incredible versatility not only captures characters in action, but machinery, mood, emotion, and all with exquisite beauty. I drooled over his recent work on Uncanny X-Men #495-499, and look forward to his future success on X-Force. -Steven M. Bari

Steve McNiven - I realize his only work so far this year was the first three issues of Brand New Day and the current “Old Man Logan” arc in Wolverine, but ever since seeing his spectacular work in Civil War, I can’t get enough of this guy. His characters all look life-like, distinct, and just plain cool. I’m not much of an expert when it comes to art, so I can’t tell what it is that makes his work so good, but if he draws it, I’ll buy it (if not individually, at least in TPB form), so I’d consider that pretty high praise. - M. Staples

Marc Silvestri - His covers for Messiah Complex and the new Darkness run have been nothing short of spectacular. - Ben Berger

BEST NEW ARTIST

R. M. Guera (Scalped) - He may not have the crisp of Jim Lee’s pencils or kinetic flare of John Romita Jr., but in my personal opinion, no modern artist in the industry can convey emotion, mood, and storytelling better than R.M. Guera. If you want to see a true master at work, pick up an issue of Scalped and prepare to be floored. - J. Montes

Stjepan Sejic (Witchblade) - Do yourself a favor and check out any Witchblade issue Sejic has worked on… go ahead, I’ll wait… back? Okay, good. Now you know why I chose him as the best new artist. At worst his work looks great and at best it is absolutely stunning. I love the style and it compliments Witchblade extremely well. -Kyle Posluszny

Simone Bianchi - Though he may not be new to the industry, Bianchi is really starting to make a name for himself. His work on Wolverine with Jeph Loeb was the best part of that arc. He recently landed the gig on Astonishing X-men which should give him a much larger stage to showcase his talents. - Ben Berger

BEST NEW WRITER

Jason Aaron (Scalped) - People loved this guy’s work on Wolverine, but I honestly hated it. Still, his work on Scalped more than qualifies him for best new writer. The characters Jason Aaron writes feel like real, complicated individuals, and he constantly tests and pushes the limits of their humanity. - J. Montes

TIE: Jonathan Hickman / Matt Fraction / Jason Aaron - I hate to keep having ties, but when three talents stand out like Hickman, Fraction, and Aaron, it is impossible for me to choose. Each brings something unique to the table and any release by one of those authors winds up either at the top or very near the top of my must read list. Keep an eye on these guys. -Kyle Posluszny

BEST TRADE PAPER BACK OR ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL

Too Cool To Be Forgotten - This book speaks volumes to those who grew up in the 1980s. It’s also a tale of coming to terms with your buried past and making peace with mistakes you’ve made. We all wish we could go back in time and fix a mistake we’ve made. This book explores this possibility in a grounded and realistic way. - J. Montes

Hack/Slash Omnibus - The Hack/Slash Omnibus scores a spot here for collecting all the Hack/Slash one-shots in one nice looking package. It’s a big book of guilty pleasure combining gore, humor, and B-movie sensibilities in all the right ways. -Kyle Posluszny

World War Hulk - Last year’s big Marvel cross-over event is still just as “smashing” in trade paperback form. I am not usually a huge fan of the Hulk, but I absolutely loved this story. Whether it was the theme of the danger of revenge, the awesome action, the sheer scope of destruction, or John Romita Jr.’s wonderful artwork, there was something to please every comic fan in this series. Not only did it make me enjoy a Hulk story (often hard for me to do), it co-starred the Sentry, one of my favorite Marvel characters. Without a doubt, World War Hulk is extremely satisfying. - M. Staples

TIE: Batman: The Man Who Laughs/The Killing Joke - I picked The Killing Joke Anniversary Edition for a few reasons. The book has been re-colored by Brian Bolland and the changes he makes really add a new layer of depth to the story. The extras from Bolland’s personal files are a definite plus. The Man Who Laughs is a great story by Ed Brubaker detailing the first clash between Batman and The Joker. Brubaker really gets both of these characters, and his expertly crafted story makes for a great read. - Ben Berger

BIGGEST SURPRISE

TIE: Next Issue Project: Fantastic Comics #24 (Image Comics) / Radical Comics - Only in the past year or so have I begun to embrace Golden Age comics. With Image Comics release of Fantastic Comics #24 not only remains incredible faithful to the source material, it’s packed to the gills with wonderful art, cheesy stories, and ridiculous advertisements. Meanwhile, Radical Comics has come into the comic scene with some surprisingly strong titles. No one doubted the art on Hercules and Caliber would be excellent, but the rich stories, themselves, are the big surprise. I hope these guys stick around, because the industry could use more publishers like Radical Comics.  - J. Montes

The Destruction of the Status Quo (The Walking Dead) - If you read The Walking Dead, you know exactly what I am talking about. Issue #48 was the single most mind-blowing and emotional event I have ever experienced in fiction. Just WOW…. -Kyle Posluszny

Spider-Woman is a Skrull - Just when I was starting to think that she was one of the coolest female characters in comics (second only to Sue Richards) Jessica Drew turns out to be the Skrull empress Veranke! I think I still can’t get over it, and I can’t wait to find out every detail of how this story came to be. - M. Staples

Steve Rogers staying dead - Superman came back four months after he died. Super-heroes die and come back all the time. It’s rare for one of them to stay dead. Steve Rogers may be resurrected, he may be cloned, but the longer he stays dead the more realistic and powerful it is. - Ben Berger

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Project Superpowers - Issue #0 was a very promising start to a series. All the pieces were put in place and all that was left was to put things into motion. But something happened and the book has been on a downward spiral since issue #1. This book suffers from having too many characters that are constantly on the move and fighting. Rarely do things slow down for us to get an understanding of who these people are and what motivates them. Even worse, Issue #3 was practically unreadable. I’ve since dropped this series, which hurts, because I’m a fan of Alex Ross and Jim Krueger. - J. Montes

Cable - I think we can all agree that the Messiah Complex was awesome. What happened immediately after… well, not so much. For a book that has the Messiah baby in it, Cable is sure taking its sweet time going somewhere. This book should have been destined for great things right from the start, but instead has been a generic chase and little else.  -Kyle Posluszny

Countdown - The title first read “Countdown”, and then halfway through changed to “Countdown to Final Crisis”. Technically, this meant the 25 issues I had already bought were just a lead in to preface for another story. At that point, I really could have cared less about the damn preface. I wanted Final Crisis right then and there so it could end the whole tedious drag of plot and events and we could all get on with our lives!

Every week I went to the shelves, picked up the series, and wondered why I was even reading it. At first I thought it was the overall story: A renegade monitor trying to find Ray Palmer, the only one who can save the multi-verse. Or the Pied Pier. Or Karate Kid. But each story that piqued my interest, DC ruined it with either dropping the plot without resolution or simply bad writing. Countdown to What the Hell did I just Spend my Money On?! -Steven M. Bari

One More Day/Brand New Day - Ever since One More Day, Amazing Spider-Man has been my least favorite monthly read. For the most part I still enjoy it, but no where near as much as I enjoy everything else. It’s amazing how one incredibly stupid decision (retconning the marriage) can cause my favorite superhero since I was 5 years old not only lose his title, but drop out of my top ten. As spectacular as the upcoming Anti-Venom storyline looks to be, Spider-Man will never feel quite right until he once again has a certain redhead wearing a ring on a certain finger by his side. - M. Staples

Wolverine #50-55 - A lot of people hate Jeph Loeb. I don’t, but I can see why he’s such a polarizing figure in comics. When he’s good, he’s great when he’s not…it’s this. The whole premise of the story was to give new information on Wolverine and Sabertooth, and I didn’t learn anything. The whole thing was a big let down. - Ben Berger

WORST ON-GOING SERIES

Cable - See my review here. - J. Montes

Young X-Men - Things are looking up, but this series still has a ways to go before it really gets my attention. The artwork is inconsistent and sloppy at times, while the writing is mediocre at best. I want to like this series, but it hasn’t given me a reason to yet. -Kyle Posluszny

All Star Batman - Jim Lee is doing his part, Frank Miller isn’t. I’ve read all these stories before. The problem with Miller is for every Dark Knight, there’s a Dark Knight Strikes Again. Not a lot of middle ground with him. I generally like most of his work, but this Batman just feels like a rehash with prettier drawings. - Ben Berger

WORST NEW SERIES

Cable - See my review here. - J. Montes

Young X-Men - As disappointing as Cable is, at least it is showing some genuine improvement (sometimes). Young X-Men is still fighting its way up towards average. -Kyle Posluszny

Trinity - We’re only four issues in and I’m both lost and bored. This seems to be a trend with DC these days (Final Crisis I’m looking at you). It’s not that either of them are “terrible” it’s just hard to jump into a DC story without knowing all of the history, which I unfortunately do not. - Ben Berger

WORST MINI-SERIES

Project Superpowers - While both books may dabble in Golden Age superheroes, Project Superpowers is exactly the opposite of The Twelve. Its story is a mess, the characters are two dimensional, and each issue seems to be worse than the previous. - J. Montes

GeNext - GeNext is only two issues in, but it needs to go somewhere fast to make something of its 5-issue run. It’s teenage drama set in a “What If?” style X-Men future and, to be honest, it feels like a giant missed opportunity. -Kyle Posluszny

Final Crisis - The amount of working knowledge you need to really get into this comic is beyond me. I hate the hype machine. - Ben Berger

BEST CHARACTER

Bucky / Captain America - It speaks volumes to me when I’m so engrossed in a story and invested in a character that I could care less if Marvel brings Steve Rogers back from the dead or not. Bucky is Captain America, but he’s not Steve Rogers. And that’s okay. He may do things differently, but he’s still perfect for the role. Seeing how Ed Brubaker takes a non-super soldier (with a bionic arm) and having him take Cap’s mantle while compensating and improvising for his deficiencies is intriguing. - J. Montes

Norman Osborn - Norman Osborn absolutely stole the show when Warren Ellis finally let him loose in issue #120 of Thunderbolts. The return of the Green Goblin was the stuff of legend and completely worth the anticipation -Kyle Posluszny

Captain America / James “Bucky” Barnes - James Barnes has evolved from Captain America’s WW2 buddy and sidekick, to a brainwashed Soviet assassin, to a man trying to atone for his sins, and finally, that of the hero. If anyone could have filled Steve Rogers’ boots, this was the only man for the job, and it has been satisfying to see him try to live up to the legacy his mentor and friend left for him. Sure, he may have a different style, but I’m looking forward to reading about this new Captain America for years to come. - M. Staples

Wolverine - Wolverine will always be on the borderline of over-saturation. That being said, he gets the best writers so usually, he’s a hit. - Ben Berger

MOST ANTICIPATED SERIES OR EVENT FOR THE LATTER HALF OF 2008

The return of John Romita Jr. on Amazing Spider-Man - There’s not much more I can say about this other than I’ve been waiting a long time for this. A long time. - J. Montes

The conclusion of Secret Invasion - Because I can’t wait to see not only if the pieces fall into place, but also how the Marvel Universe stands following the event. So far, so good. -Kyle Posluszny

New Deadpool Ongiong Series! - Daniel Way and Paco Medina on a Secret Invasion tie-in with the Marvel Universe’s most subversive character since Howard the Duck: the Merc-with-a –Mouth, Deadpool! Despite being a fan of Way’s treatment of Deadpool in Wolverine: Origins, the chance to see an energetic artist like Medina paired with an equally vigorous writer is something to behold. -Steven M. Bari

Ender’s Game - Ender’s Game is one of my all time favorite novels, and Orson Scott Card is one of my all time favorite authors. Combine that with Marvel, the all time best comic book publisher, and what do you get? A recipe destined for greatness. Ender’s Game #1 is probably the comic book I’ve looked forward to most. Ever. - M. Staples

Uncanny X-Men - Brubaker’s rising starpower continues with Matt Fraction. These are Marvel’s go-to guys after Bendis, so having them work together on Marvel’s best characters should be great. - Ben Berger