Another month in the can! June was a month filled with action! It was filled with suspense! It was filled with the best of comics, and then there was the worst. There was some god awful schlock out there. But on a more positive note, you know what else was in June? My birthday!
Check behind the cut for more.
Best Issue — New Avengers #1
I haven’t had so much fun on an Avengers book in a looooooooong time. Who cares about lit comics and the insane things happening in any given Vertigo book? I like to have fun in my books, and this was a LOT of fun.
Runner Up: Secret Six #22
Worst Issue — Rise of Arsenal #4
I don’t want to beat a dead horse (especially since I gave up on it halfway), so I’ll let Matt do it. from his last review of the mini:
The last time I reviewed this book, I tore it to shreds for it’s incredible insensitivity to any sort of decency as well as it’s downright absurdity. This time? I don’t even need to. I’ve said it all before. Justice League: Rise of Arsenal could have been something really special, but instead is a perfect example of what not to do when a company charges you with revamping a character to fit certain future goals. On the same hand, this is also a perfect example of when you should just say no to a job offer, because this is going to be a big black spot on JT Krul’s work for the rest of his career.
You might ask why I nominated I book I never read. Well, I trust Matt’s opinion, and a 0.01 says A LOT.
Best Scene — Dex-Starr becomes a Red Lantern
Did you READ this back-up? My God, it was absolutely heartbreaking to see how poorly Dex got treated up until he finally got that red ring. Just killer.
Worst Scene — Cyborg Superman is back
Oddly enough, I hadn’t read any solicits for GLC, so I had no idea Hank Henshaw was coming back to the book at all. But when the first page of a book shows a human half face on one side and a robotic one on the other, I can’t help but think of that character. It was the biggest yawnfest to see him rear his mechanical head. I was really disappointed.
Runner up: any scene in Rise of Arsenal to be honest
Best Writer — Gail Simone
From the gut wrenching book Secret Six to the newly relaunched Birds of Prey, Gail Simone has been hitting it out of the park on a regular basis. It’s my own fault for not reading Wonder Woman, but we’ll get to that later.
Runner up: Brian Michael Bendis
Worst Writer — JT Krul
Again, I’ll let Matt handle this one:
Continued belowIn all honesty, I don’t feel the need to spend a paragraph berating the writing here. You get it, I get it, and I’m sure somewhere out there Krul gets it – this is a bad comic. This is a VERY bad comic. None of this comic has made any sense whatsoever, and I’m sure that in comparison most people would probably call Justice League: Cry For Justice “the next Watchmen.” That’s honestly how bad of a comic it is. It’s only real peer is Ultimatum. I honestly see nothing redeemable about this having happened, and the rest of the story being picked up in Titans almost assuredly makes that book worth avoiding. Krul has managed to make Arsenal one of my least favorite characters in all of the DCU, and the art direction here is terrible. A two-page spread of Ollie punching out Roy? Was that really necessary? It’s not dramatic. It’s goofy and tacky, as well as absurd and underwhelming.
Best Artist — Doug Mahnke
Doug Mahnke has been hitting it out of the park on Green Lantern as of late. The man is insanely detailed and never misses a deadline it seems. To be honest though, I WOULD have given this to Stuart Immonen, but somehow he drew Hawkeye AND Ronin in the same scene.
Runner up: Stuart Immonen
Worst Artist — Miguel Sepulveda
Look back on this issue. It’s stellar from a writing standpoint. Then look at Thanos. There some scenes where Sepulveda seems to have forgotten to add Thanos’ nose. Is it a nitpick? Maybe. But remember, we give Liefeld a lot of shit for forgetting feet. I call it sloppy penciling.
Most Overlooked Title — Wonder Woman
This isn’t really a comment on Wonder Woman #600, because it sold REALLY well. This is more of a comment on how people are so up in arms over a character they clearly cared nothing about until she was changed. If you complainers all of you read this book, this kind of change probably would never have happened. So really, get over it. Let JMS tell his story and then make a judgment.
