The Bum’s Rush #34

The Best In Comics 2005 (in my humble opinion) – Part I

You know, 2005 was a bit of a lean year. There were a couple of good movies, but not many. Some good music, but not much. And the books I read were almost all released prior to 2005. Thankfully I don’t have to write about movies, music or books. I get to write about comics. And there are thousands of comics released every year. But while there were a lot of comics and some really huge events this year it was, like the rest of 2005, pretty slim pickings. However, after a lot of research, a little soul-searching and massive amounts of booze and loose women, I’ve managed to come up with a pretty decent list of what I consider to be the best in comics from the year 2005.

On a side note, I was originally planning to include what I considered to be the most overrated things in comics from the past year. For every “Favorite Writer” I was going to list an “Overrated Writer”. I’ve decided to drop that element of the article. I’d rather talk about the good stuff from this year, I don’t want to bring things down by complaining about stuff that I thought sucked or was just played up to be more important or better than it was. So… uh… on with the show, huh? This week it’s my favorite writer and artist of 2005.

Favorite Writer of 2005 – Dan Slott

Remember when you were a kid, back when you first started reading comics? Remember how much fun it was, before you became hyper-critical, before you knew which creators you loved and which ones you hated, before you felt like you’d read every story a dozen times? You didn’t think about the people who put the books together or which company they were from or how ridiculous or outlandish the stories were. It was all fascinating, new and exciting. And you just had to get your hands on more. Remember that? Well Dan Slott certainly does. Not only does he remember that feeling but his comics embody that feeling. They’re exciting, funny, full of flavor and history and most importantly, packed to the gills with tons of fun. They give me that warm, fuzzy feeling of kid-like joy that I haven’t gotten from a comic in years. And Dan Slott remembers. His comics are steeped in the lore and mythology of the grand old Marvel Universe, always featuring characters and settings that haven’t been visited in years but feel instantly familiar. And he does it all without giving you a continuity migraine. Whether it’s the innovative “superhuman courtroom drama” of She-Hulk, the hilarious misadventures of career superhero losers, the GLA or the heartwarming and sidesplitting tale of the rivalry/friendship of Spiderman and the Human Torch, every story he writes reminds me why I started and kept reading comics when I was young. That, and his uncanny knack of working with absolutely amazing artists on every project he does, is why Dan Slott gets my nod as the best writer of 2005.

Dan Slott is currently writing She-Hulk Vol. 2 and the new Thing ongoing series. His GLX-Mas Special, as well as a trade paperback collection of the GLA: Misassembled mini-series, are shipping this Wednesday.

A Close Second – Warren Ellis

This really was a close one. A few years ago, when Warren Ellis became one of the hottest writers around, he was also one of my favorite writers. His books, like Authority, Transmetropolitan and Planetary, were some of the best on the shelves. But then the quality of his work seemed to drop off a little and I found that I no longer looked forward to the next Ellis project with as much enthusiasm as I once did. In 2004 though Ellis had a sort of comeback, writing several creator owned three-issue minis and returning to Marvel Comics after a long absence. This year he became one of my favorite writers again, producing some of the best work of his career. He made Ultimate Fantastic Four not only readable (the first six issues of the series by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar were… not so great) but one of few the books I couldn’t wait to get my hands on each month. He also began work on the Ultimate Galactus trilogy, wrote Ocean, one of the coolest mini-series of the year, and launched two great new series, one for Wildstorm entitled Desolation Jones and another at Image called Fell. It was definitely a hell of a year for one of the smartest and most creative writers working in comics today.

Warren Ellis also writes Jack Cross for DC, the crime-thriller Down for Top Cow and his new series Nextwave is set launch from Marvel Comics in January.

Favorite Artist of 2005 – Doug Mahnke

Few artists can put out consistently gorgeous and detailed artwork on a monthly basis, let alone handle a regular series, two specials and two mini-series.
Doug Mahnke did all of this in 2005. He not only produces some of the most powerful and painstakingly detailed work in the industry, he draws some of the best action sequences and certainly one of the best versions of Batman I’ve ever seen. Throughout 2005 Mahnke has been the regular artist on Batman, during one of the most important stories that character has seen in years, the return of Jason Todd, the second Robin who was killed by the Joker. He also worked on Batman: The Man Who Laughed, one of the best graphic novels of the year, and the best Joker story in years, with writer Ed Brubaker. If that wasn’t enough, Mahnke also drew a 48-page JLA/Cyberforce crossover for DC Comics and Top Cow, launched two new mini-series, Frankenstein with writer
Grant Morrison and Team Zero with Chuck Dixon, and provided some stunning covers for DC’s Outsiders series. Let’s face it, the man is a powerhouse. For being one of the hardest working and most versatile artists in comics today there’s no doubt in my mind that Mahnke was my favorite artist in 2005.

Mahnke’s run as regular artist on Batman will end in February. Frankenstein and Team Zero will take him through the first half of 2006.

A Close Second – Jim Cheung

It seems like every single artist who was part of the now defunct line of comics from CrossGen improved their style by leaps and bounds while working with the company. It’s no wonder then that when the company folded in 2004 these artists became some of the most sought after talent in the industry.
Jim Cheung was one such artist who was snatched up almost immediately by Marvel Comics and became one of their Young Guns, a group of six up-and-coming artists who would be working on some very high-profile books for the company. For the first several months of his exclusive contract with the company Cheung worked mostly on covers until it was announced he would be the regular artist for Marvel’s Young Avengers series with writer Allan Heinberg. When that series debuted it was clear that Cheung had continued to improve since his time with CrossGen. His artwork is crisp, sharp and chock full of detail, his costume designs are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time and his ability to mix great drama with explosive action is almost second to none. Unfortunately his meticulous attention to detail also kept him just shy of securing the spot as my favorite artist of the year, as he was only able to draw seven issues of the series this year.

Jim Cheung will continue as the regular artist on Young Avengers in 2006.

Quick Bits

1. Stumblebum Studios was mentioned on Comicon’s The Pulse in the CageCon Report by
   David Dous. Sweet!
2. Check out Cully Hamner’s design for the new Blue Beetle! Despite Ted Kord (the last Blue Beetle who was shot in the head in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis special) being one of my absolute favorite characters ever I was pretty happy with the way he went out, like a real hero and I’m really looking forward to this new Beetle series.  Click on image to view at full size
3. Timur Bekmambetov, director of the Russian box-office smash Night Watch (releasing in the U.S. Feb. of 2006), has signed on to direct Universal’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s six-issue Top Cow mini-series, Wanted.
4. Kurt Busiek will be leaving Dark Horse’s hit series, Conan, as of issue 29.  Mike Mignola will write the title for three issues before Tim Truman
   (Grimjack, Scout) takes over as the new regular writer.
5. The reason Busiek is leaving Conan? He’ll be writing the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis series for DC that I mentioned last week. Joining Busiek on the title will be artist Jackson Guice, who hasn’t worked on a regular series (I think) since CrossGen’s Ruse. Guice is currently working on an arc in JLA: Classified with Warren Ellis. Also noteworthy, the star of this series will be an all-new Aquaman!  Click on image to view at full size
6. Marvel’s New Universe will return next year, first in a fifth-week event called Untold Tales of the New Universe and then in a brand new ongoing title called newuniversal, written by Warren Ellis. Untold Tales will feature several one-shots based on original New Universe titles such as Nightmask, DP7 and StarBrand among others. Ellis’ newuniversal series will essentially be a reboot based on the original New Universe, much in the same way J. Michael Straczynski’s Supreme Power was a based upon Squadron Supreme.
7. Last week I mentioned that Robin would be starting over as a new series with a new creative team. Looks like I read the information wrong. Robin will be getting a new creative team, writer Adam Beechen and artist Karl Kerschl, but the series will retain its original numbering.
8. The DC Comics Solicitations for March, 2006 are up here. Following hot on the heels of Infinite Crisis it’s One Year Later and everything has changed. Just how different are your favorite books? Check out the solicitations and see!

NEXT WEEK: Part two of The Best of 2005!

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