Comic Book Wednesday: The 1st Annual Brookies

Hello dear readers, for those of you that have been keeping up to date on current events you know that it is, in fact, 2011. Therefore 2010 is behind us.

But many great things happened in the world of Comics in 2010... and they can't go unnoticed. So I decided that I would give out the award for "Best...." in a few categories related to the funny books that I love so much.

Without further ado... the 1st annual Brookies.

BEST WRITER: This Brookie designates the writer who crafted the best stories and was... the best writer. And the nominees are...

+ Mark Millar (Kick Ass 2, Nemesis, Superior, Ultimate Avengers, and others)
+ Jason Aaron (PunisherMAX, Scalped, Wolverine: Weapon X, Wolverine)
+ Garth Ennis (The Boys and Others)
+ Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead, Astounding Wolfman, Haunt, and others)
+ Geoff Johns (Blackest Night, Brightest Day, Green Lantern, The Flash, and others)

And the winner is..... Robert Kirkman.
It seems only right that Kirkman wins this award. Even though Millar and Aaron had stellar years, Kirkman continues to write compelling stories with heavy focus on characters which I love.

BEST ARTIST: Writing is only half the creative process, this category rewards the visual half of Comic production.

+Steve McNiven (Nemesis)
+Steve Dillon (PunisherMAX, Ultimate Avengers 3)
+Francis Manupal (The Flash)
+Jason Howards (The Astounding Wolfman)
+Ryan Ottley (Invincible)

And the winner is... Steve McNiven.
Nemesis was fantastic in no small part to the beautiful and chaotic art of McNiven who helped give violent life to Millar's story about a real world super villain.

BEST LIMITED SERIES (Non Crossover): Not every series starts with the intention of a long run, this category praises the best limited series, as a rule they had to start in 2010, even if they haven't finished yet.

+Nemesis: The story of a super villain and the cop trying to stop him.
+Nancy in Hell: A girl fights her way through and out of hell, encountering zombies, beasts, and making out with Lucifer himself.
+Neonomicon: A modern update of Lovecraftian mythology, told by Alan Moore... the god-king of comics.
+Hit-Monkey: The "year one" tale of Marvel's monkey man slayer.
+Ultimate Avengers 3: A black ops team doing The Ultimate Universes dirty work, although there are three only one is nominated here.

And the winner is... Nemesis.
This should be no surprise to any readers of my CBW posts simply because I have given all the Nemesis issues above 9's. The story was compelling, the dialogue unrelenting, and the art fantastic... but it's Millar and McNiven so all that stuff was obvious.

BEST NEW SERIES: A category to praise any series that had an issue #1 released this year.
+Secret Avengers: A black ops team that consists of Marvel's bad asses doing dirty work.
+MorningGlories: A boarding school teaches 6 new students all kinds of new reasons to hate school.
+Wolverine: A revival of one of Marvel's most famous characters, kicking off with said character fighting his way out of hell.
+Namor: The First Mutant: An exciting return for Namor to his own title.

And the Winner is..... MorningGlories.
A truly fantastic start. MorningGlories weaves intrigue, romance, and teenage angst better than most of today's teen based fiction, even though it's not targeted at that demographic.

BEST COMPANY: A Category praising the company that provided the best stories in 2010
+DC
+Marvel
+Image
+Dark Horse
+IDW
+Dynamite

And the Winner is..... Marvel.
While Brightest Day was a let down, Marvel's Shadowland as well as memorable individual titles led to a very fine year from the House of Ideas, here's hoping they can continue to wow me in 2011.

BEST SERIES (On Going)
+ Captain America
+ Invincible
+ The Walking Dead
+ The Boys
+ Scalped

And the Winner is..... Scalped.
Scalped has been consistently one of the best series on the racks and the recently concluded "Unwanted" arc cemented this as not only my favorite series at the moment, but the best series to keep going strong from 2009 to 2010 and into 2011.

Well there's what Dr. Brooklyn is telling you to like when it comes to comics in 2010. Stay tuned with me through out 2011 and I'll keep you up to speed on what's worth liking and what's worth passing.