Year In Review - Comics Books of 2007

We come to the end of another year, and now is the time to look back in fondness of the good stuff as to we try to drink away the bad stuff. And so it goes with the comics world, as every reviewer and blogger has fun making their list and checking it twice as we expel the virtues of the great works of the past year. Who am I to resist the siren's song of the "Best of" list, so I present to you, my fine readers, a selection of categories chosen by me, with a bunch of winners and also runner-ups, also selected by me. Love it, hate it, agree with it, disagree with; please do me the favor of commenting below.

 

Best Writer – Ed Brubaker

Runner ups – Brian Michael Bendis, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Darwyn Cooke

Not a very difficult choice to make on this one. No writer had a more varied line-up of titles while keeping on schedule and making every book a great read. Let's look at Bru's hit list for this year: Daredevil, which is maybe not his stand-out book, but is good every month; Immortal Iron Fist, co-written by Matt Fraction, admittedly I've switched to trades on it, but the first arc was very exciting and this is well regarded by a lot of people: Criminal (see below); Uncanny X-men, I had a blast with Bru's first arc on the title, and I'm hearing good things about his issues of Messiah Complex. Finally, there's Captain America, which had a lot of buzz early in the year, thanks to a certain big event, but that buzz was stupidly squandered through no fault of his own because of Marvel's production. Brubaker is telling a very long, involved plot here with a ton of characters, but the reader never feels lost. What other writer can boast having one of the best series on the market without a single appearance by the title character?...continue reading this article at Geeks of Doom!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 12-28-07

Ultimate Power #9
Yep, that sure was an ending, wasn't it? Jeph Loeb brings this series to a close, not with a bang, but a whimper. There are maybe two surprises in the whole thing, although if you've been reading Ultimate Spider-man, it kind of explains a pretty major plot point. It's not awful but like the whole series, it's just way underwhelming. The series rushes to a conclusion without any major drama. The art from Greg Horn is his usual work, so you can take it or leave it. Again, not bad just largely lifeless. If this was supposed to be a major event, than Marvel really missed the boat. ---3 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 11-29-07

All-star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #8
What’s this? An issue of All Star Batman that I didn’t really have any problems with? That’s right; this is probably the first issue that I really enjoyed the whole way through. Maybe I’ve just grown used to [Frank] Miller’s portrayal of Batman in this series as a lunatic jack-hole, and I can just have fun with it. It probably helps that I’m not so attached to Batman that anything outside the norm becomes sacrilege. That said, this whole series will read much better once it’s finished, because every issue tends to go by too quickly. Jim Lee’s art is up to his usual standards though, so at least it’s always good looking. Maybe this series will take a good upswing just as it’s coming to an end. ---4 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 11-14-07

Preview: Left on Mission #5
(On-sale: 11/21/07) -- Coming to you from BOOM! Studios, we get the final issue of this remarkably good spy story. Although I guess with this issue, I’d have to describe it as half spy story, half noir. Things come to a messy end and not everyone comes out alive as series lead Eric has a reunion with his femme fatal Emma, as she explains what she’s done. Writer Chip Mosher does a good job making the reader understand what the characters are going though, and paces the story perfectly. The ending becomes very emotional without being melodramatic. Artist Fancesco Francavilla’s work reminds one of Michael Lark or Alex Maleev, with very realistic renditions of the locales, and a good handle on the characters. This has been a very enjoyable story, and if you missed the first four issues, definitely be on the look out for the trade when it comes out. ---4 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 10-24-07

Ultimate Spider-man #115 – Great art, Immonen is really working well here. Great writing, Bendis understands his characters and knows how to get the best out of them. ---4 out of 5

Casanova #10 – Still crazy, still fun, still awesome. Fabio Moon’s art is I feel easier to follow than Garbiel Ba’s art was one the first bunch of issues. You can tell this is Matt Fraction’s baby. ---5 out of 5

Umbrella Academy #2 – Meanwhile, Ba is the perfect match for this book, and I think the colors from Dave Stewart really help bring the work to life. Builds on the promise of the first issue. ---4 out of 5

JLA Classified #45 – Martian Manhunter deals with his crazy mental clone of a brother who killed all the other Martians and is no trying to get the Manhunter to kill himself or be killed by his friends. Read it for Rick Leonardi’s art which is great. The story is kind of crap though. ---3 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 9-19-07

World War Hulk #4
This one was a bit of a let down as I've loved the first three issues, but this one didn't impress me as much. The battle between Hulk and Dr. Strange was a little hard to follow at points and some of the coloring effects were a little weird. Plus the whole fight is I'm assuming based on an old plot point from some Dr. Strange story that I've never heard of, and I'm not doing any research to figure out what's going on. That fight is the first half of the issue, with the second half being the Illuminati against each other. The fight is suitably emotional and this part I thought was well drawn. I mean to be fair it's John Romita Jr., and on a bad day he's still better than most people. All that said, still enjoying the mini, not buying any extra tie-ins and getting the whole story, so I call it a win. ---3 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 9-12-07

Green Lantern #23
This is still the best event of the summer, with great art coming from Ivan Reis and Geoff Johns handling a ton of characters, but still making the events important to all. The whole thing just feels epic, with lots of large fights. Hal and company manage to rescue John Stewart and Guy Gardner this issue, but run into new problems, namely, the Anti-Monitor. The whole threat seems real; the only problem comes from DC, revealing what will end up happening to Kyle as Parallax. Lots of great action in this issue. --3 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!