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GHM Staff's Top Comic Book Pics of 2000
The Year in Comic Books
Erich
Schoeneweiss
Everybody
and their grandmother on this site is going to be babbling about their
favorite comic books this year (Barry will probably write a 30 page thesis
paper on this). I’m just
going to throw in my nickel on what I thought the five coolest moments of
the year were so ‘Drew will get off my back.
5)
Punisher revived!
For
pure fun and guilty pleasure, what book has been better than Punisher this
year? From the first issue
with Punisher throwing the mobster off the Empire State Building to the
now classic scene of Punisher feeding Ma Gnuchi to the polar bears.
Cheesey, cheesey fun.
4)
Marvel’s Ultimate Line
I
quit reading Spider-Man and the X-Men years ago.
Spidey sucked. Plain
and simple. Way too many
books with horrible stories and bad art.
I felt betrayed by the whole clone saga and just didn’t care
anymore. X-Men, too many
books to read (especially during the big annual event which started to get
lame), too many storylines never resolved, and too much of characters I
never liked (I’m sorry, but Gambit is one of the worst characters in
comics). So I didn’t give
much credence to the news of Marvel’s new Ultimate line…even though I
listen to Your Man@Marvel babble about it
almost every time we go out or watch wrestling.
It was a pleasant surprise to see how good both books actually
turned out to be. Ultimate
Spider-Man has been a real blast and half.
A really good read, especially considering it’s a story we all
know quite well already. And
X-Men really upped the anti with the last page of the first issue.
I can’t wait to see what’s to come.
Your Man was right all along.
3)
Batman’s Contingency Event
How
do you stop Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman,
Aquaman, and Flash if they are possessed by an evil entity or just simply
snap and go mad like Hal Jordan (notice I didn’t mention Plastic
Man….do we really care about him?)?
Batman knows. He’s
been taking notes for years and is prepared for just such a contingency.
Only problem is, he didn’t tell his teammates and old Ra’s Al
Ghul found out and stole all his notes.
The result…a Justice League divided.
And Superman at major odds with Batman.
Superman of all of the heroes should understand the importance of
being prepared for anything and should have expected someone as obsessive
as Batman to do such a thing. Just
explains why Batman is the coolest hero in comics.
2)
Authority…Authority…Authority
Is
there a cooler freaking super-team out there?
Don’t think so. Screw
the X-Men. Bunch of pansies
run by a bald headed cripple. Avengers?
Outdated. FF? Too busy
dreaming about sleeping with each other.
J.L.A…well, see above. You
get out of line, The Authority will kick your ass.
If you haven’t read the trade paperbacks, do it.
This book kicks ass (and it got even better after Ellis left and
Millar took over!). Can’t
wait to see this movie.
1)Batman confronting President elect Luthor in Lex 2000.
Damn
is this wasn’t the coolest story in years.
“You can have the ring or you can be President. You can’t have
both!”, that’s what I read comics for.
It was only 8-10 pages, but it was better than anything else
written this year. Batman and
Luthor going at it verbally. Luthor threatening to use every US agency
available to him to find out who Batman really is and destroy him.
So good. And
Superman’s pissed at Bats for the shit he pulled in League?
Supes is a big wimp. Batman
is the shit!
Best New
Character Special Award:
Elite Agents of Shield
As one of the characters is named
partially after me and the fact I spent hours with Bill Rosemann bouncing
ideas off of him, I simply loved reading this back-up in the back of the
Captain America annual this year. It
was a great read and perfectly fills that void all of us GI Joe junkies
have. Let Marvel know you
want to see more of this great team.
(And also that you want to see Bill write more as well)
Talent
of the Year: Brian Michael Bendis
I give ‘Drew shit all the time for how much he worships
this man (as do the rest of you Jinxworld yahoos), but I must admit this
guy was a force to be reckoned with this year.
I already wrote about how great his Ultimate Spider-Man was.
Powers could easily be on the list as well (and would probably be
number 6 if you could just scroll up a little).
He has also contributed beautifully to giving the fan a voice again
with his great Jinxworld site and message boards and the fact he’s made
comics feel like a big community again.
It’s been sorely missing for years.
Very excited to see what this guy has to offer this year.
Guilty Pleasure of the Year: Your Man@Marvel
Nothing is as much fun as writing him faux fan letters and
waiting to hear his reaction. The
crazy bastard actually printed a couple of them and I won a free
subscription (HEY, I’m still waiting on that dammit!).
Barry Wolborsky's Top Ten
Ongoing
Series
1.
The Waiting Place
2. Preacher
3. Deadenders
4. Sam & Twitch
5. Powers
6. Strangers in Paradise
7. Astounding Space Thrills
8. Ultimate Spider-Man
9. JSA
10. Castle Waiting
Top Ten Limited Series
1. Breakfast After Noon
2. Fortune and Glory
3. Barry Ween, Boy Genius 2.0
4. The Remarkable Worlds of Phineas B. Phuddle
5. Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright
6. Huntress/Batman
7. Murder Me Dead
8. Scary Godmother: Wild About Harry
9. Batman: Dark Victory
10. Shockrockets
Top Ten Trade Paperback Collections
1. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
2. Clan Apis
3. Electric Girl
4. Kabuki: Metamorphosis
5. Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?
6. David Boring
7. Fortune and Glory
8. Scene of the Crime
9. Jingle Belle
10. Soulwind
Top Five Original Graphic Novels
1. Pedro and Me
2. Minor Miracles
3. Last Day in Vietnam
4. JLA: Heaven's Ladder
5. Shazam: Power of Hope
top of page
Cth’s Top 5 Comics of 2000
1. Powers
2. Hellblazer
3. Ultimate Spiderman
4. Lone Wolf and Cub
5. Blade of the Immortal
Alysha’s
Top 5 Comics of 2000
1.
Joseph Michael Linsner – Return of the
Goddess.
You know me by now. I
love Linsner. And this was just an awesome mini series, although it took
way too long to come out. Every
second was worth it. Enough
said.
2.
Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon – Punisher.
I would’ve said the awesome conclusion to Preacher, but I was so
saddened by its end that I felt the need to pick something bloody.
I’d say Punisher qualifies.
I was ready to hate this book, but of course Garth and Steve
delivered.
3.
Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley – Ultimate
Spiderman.
I usually dislike Spidey. But
how can you not love this book? Excellent
characterization. Beautiful
artwork. A masterpiece. This
is what makes superheroes worth reading.
4.
Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming – Powers.
Always recommended. Easily
the smartest thing I’m reading right now.
Deena is the best female character in comics today, just incredibly
characterized. I can’t say enough about this book.
5.
Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson - Transmetropolitan. Smart,
scary, funny. Science fiction
the way it should be. I’m
dreading this series’ demise, since we’ve already lost Preacher.
Honorable Mentions: The Atomics, Zero Girl, The Nocturnals, X-Men, Harley Quinn, Ultimate X-Men, Sam and Twitch, Dork, Outlaw Nation, Daredevil (when it comes out!).
Andrew’s
Top Comics of 2000:
10. 100 Bullets- urban crime drama at its best
9. Arsenic
Lullaby- off the wall, sure to offend, and always hilarious
8. Pedro
and Me- a fitting biographical ‘tribute’. Winick’s finest work.
7. Breakfast
After Noon- an honest, heartbreaking relationship story
6. Detective
Comics- Rucka puts the ‘detective’ back in Batman
5. The
Sentry- best mini-series of 2000
4. The
Waiting Place- the best ‘real life’ comic book in years
3. Powers-
costumed heroes, gritty detectives & the most inventive concept of the
year
2. Hellblazer-
Azzarello gives Constantine an Americanized spin and makes the book
a must read once again
1. Ultimate Spider-Man- after all these years, we can relate to Peter Parker/Spider-Man again. The best comic out today.
LWK’s Top Comics of 2000
1 - Hitman
2 - Fantastic
Four
3 - The
Authority
4 - Preacher
5 - Ultimate Spider-Man
Mike Yaremko's
At the top of my list is “Starman;”
although the year-long story which took up the bulk of 2000, “Grand
Guignol,” meandered a and ran in fits and starts, the culmination of the
of the story, in issue #72, showed us why we’ve loved Opal City all
these years. Good. Evil. Love. Hate. Sacrifice. Loss. Heroism.
“Planetary”: A great mystery
and lots of action in the superhero vein, but at the same time, a
deconstruction and examination of more than a century’s worth of popular
literature and fantastic fiction.
“The Authority”: It’s just
damn fun. I think some people miss the point: “The Authority” promises
big fights, big explosions and big carnage, and always delivers. In a way,
one of the purest superhero comics around.
Jeff Smith brought “Bone”
back
after a too-long hiatus and didn’t miss a step.
“Cerebus”: I have to admit, I
don’t see the point in what Dave Sim has been writing about for the last
several years, but it’s still a must read for me every month and I’ll
be there to the end.
“Preacher” ended last year the
only way it could, really, with God getting smoked. We’re a little
dimmer without Jesse Custer’s good-ol’-boy righteousness to greet us
every month.
“Lucifer”: The Devil’s got
some Byzantine plan to get back in to Heaven and take the whole place
over. What’s not to like. Writer Mike Carey does a great job of keeping
things interesting without the aid of a likable protagonist.
With its family of immortals
running around trying to kill one another, I’m really not sure what’s
going on in “Outlaw Nation,” but it’s interesting enough so far to
keep me around and make the list.
“Powers”: A great new entry in
the rather small genre of “What-if-there-really-were-superheroes.”
“Hellbazer”: Honestly, I’m
more a fan of the John Constantine character than of many of the stories
about him. This amoral, low-rent mage/con man is what keeps the series on
my reading list.
Worthy of note: “Stray Bullets”
and “Murder Me Dead;” “The Invisibles” (which was a great series
through most of its runs, but ended on a somewhat disappointing note for
me early last year); “Top 10;” and “Midnight Nation.”
Jennifer
Hill's Top 10 Comic Books of 2000
- Hanzo
in Short Sleeves
- Hanzo
in Short Sleeves
- Hanzo
in Short Sleeves
- Hanzo
in Short Sleeves
- Hanzo
in Short Sleeves
- Is
this redundant or what?
- Oh,
that comic isn’t out yet?
- Right,
it will be!
- Who
will publish such a great comic?
- John
Thayer Hill II…..my man!!!!
The Webmistress' Top Comic Book Pics
[Note: I am not a comic book fan like most people who work on this staff, so I have taken a different twist in this area...these are the top comics I have ever read and liked or loved, listed in no particular order.]
Fortune And Glory - Brian Michael Bendis (nice middle name, Brian!)
Strangers In Paradise (the whole series since it began) - Terry Moore
Lost Girl - N. Kanan
Artbabe (various issues) - Jessica Abel
Optic Nerve (various issues) - Adrian Tomine
Naughty Bits (various issues) - Roberta Gregory
Hanzo in Short Sleeves (original pencil-sketched issue) - John Thayer Hill II
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