Recently on Digital Webbing, I read a request from a hip entertainment site looking for writers. As an attempt at attracting an appropriately hip crowd the site asked the following questions: "Hated Harry Potter 4 the movie but loved the book? Loved the way Wolverine was drawn in the pages of X-Men, but gagged how [sic] he was portrayed as [sic] an Aussie?" Quite frankly, this hip attitude is so prevalent that it's pretty much taken for granted, especially among comic book fans. Apparently, source material is always better than adaptations. I wish somebody had gotten me that memo. It might have saved me a good bit of embarrassment, like when I write columns like this: Guess what? I think X-Men: The Last Stand was really good. Possibly one of the best movies this year. The opening prologue attained near-LOTR levels of epic scope, painting a new, deep, stirring history between the three most powerful mutants in the X-Universe, and granting the entire film series a gravitas that was previously lacking; the Danger Room sequence was Wolverine at his aloof best (and the Fastball Special looked freaking cool on the big screen); the 'mutant cure' storyline was relevant without being preachy, and the Golden Gate Bridge/X-Men versus the Brotherhood Army finale was fulfilling, exciting and a major improvement over the anti-climactic, Alkali Lake ending of the unduly beloved X2: X-Men United. Also, the incredibly subtle movement of Magneto's chess piece in the final shot was sinister and sweeeet. And yet, everybody hated this movie. Everybody decided that they didn't like Brett Ratner, and everybody decided that nobody's allowed to take any of the necessary liberties that go hand in hand with transferring from one medium to another. And by everybody, I don't mean everybody, I mean comic book fans; the film was number three for the year at the box office and did a whopping $234 million domestically (and roughly $458 million worldwide). Most people I talk to, people who are not members of the fandom community, found this to be a perfectly engaging chapter; they have no problem with the deaths of Professor Xavier or Cyclops, nor are they offended by the de-powering of Rogue or Mystique. And they have no issue with the new origin of Jean Grey's Dark Phoenix Power, a new origin that left most comic fans shaking with the self-righteous, blind, incredulous rage that Jerry Falwell might display if he found himself at a Scissor Sisters concert. Here's a controversial position: not only was I okay with the new Dark Phoenix origin story, I actually find it an improvement over the comic book source material. Chris Claremont is obviously a master, but Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg are entirely correct that a weird nebulous space spirit happening to merge with the former Marvel Girl is a way less dramatically fulfilling cause of Jean Grey's maladies of power than if Professor Xavier is responsible for the Dark Phoenix, if he messed with forces that were beyond his understanding, and turned his pupil into precisely what he was trying to prevent her from becoming. Isn't that more interesting even if it isn't from the original comics? It's cleaner and it's simpler and it appeals to a larger audience. It makes for a better movie. And while we're on the subject, for the love of God, how can anybody be mad about the deaths and de-powerings in the third X-Men movie when that stuff happens all the time in the comics? Doesn't Cyclops die like every five issues, and isn't Professor Xavier always apparently dead but secretly swapping bodies, and wasn't Storm de-powered for like ten years back during the original Chris Claremont run? I'll tell you how people can still be mad: because it's vogue to dislike the new, to be an originalist. I understand that we all love some original material or another, but how does a movie take anything from that? How does Judd Winick and Howard Porter screwing with the Marvel Family take anything away from the original Fawcett publications, or even The Power of Shazam! from the nineties? Comic book fans are fine with crazy interpretations in comics, for examples see any title in the Elseworlds or What if? lines. Why can't people be equally open-minded with the more necessary alterations made by movies, TV shows, board games, or any other alternative media?
I'd like to say a brief word on delays, which is a sore subject among many comic book aficionados, and an unfortunately prominent blemish on what was otherwise an exceptional year. We have all felt the sting of the delay, on Teen Titans for as long as I can remember, on Wonder Woman, on Civil War most sharply, and on All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder most ridiculously (though since Jim Lee's hard at work on that supposedly revolutionary MMORPG, the vast majority of comic book readers will readily forgive him, since those non-gamers who are avid comic fans are an incredible minority). The fact is, people don't seem to mind artists working on fastidious schedules, provided that the finished product is eye-popping and that the book is not scheduled to be a monthly title. All Star Superman, Astonishing X Men and Alex Ross's Justice have all found audiences more than willing to wait. And in some cases, especially books out of continuity, it would almost be preferable to do away with the now vestigial pamphlet release process altogether, and release certain works as single glorious volumes. I'd have gladly waited two years for Justice to buy it as one big bad book, and in all honesty the only thing that stopped me from doing so is lack of willpower. Regardless, certain works are worth waiting for. However, like it or not, we once again live in an era of writers; the age of Liefeld and MacFarlane is over, and comic book readers are no longer impressed by dazzling splash pages. The writers get top billing because we ultimately need character; we need plot; we need story. I'm not trying to say that comic art is lesser as a rule, but there are times when the artistic vision of a single illustrator is secondary to the telling of the story. 52 is one such example, and to ensure that deadlines are met, the art team on that book is larger than a mere four penciller roster. Many people find the variation in the drawing styles on that book a major distraction; for my part, I've been so engrossed in the story I only notice the inconsistency when it's explicitly pointed out. In other words, certain books of hyper-episodic natures cannot afford to be published based on a single artist's schedule, no matter how good the art is, because quite frankly anticipation of the story is too overpowering. Civil War is a major example of this problem; McNiven's work is undoubtedly fantastic, but Marvel should have given him some backup on that book, whether he wanted it or not, for the sake of good will, not only for the fans, but also for the distributors and retailers, whose bottom lines are hurt when the best-selling book in comics is consistently delayed. Comics walk a fine line between art and commerce, and, shocking as it may sound, there are instances when commerce should win out. Please sound off on this major issue of 2006.
Fare thee well, 2006! You brought us nearly too many gifts to count! A history-making weekly book that has raised the bar for episodic storytelling, a long-overdue major convention in New York City and one entire issue of All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder! Crossovers galore, rampant miniseries and more Absolute Editions than our wallets can handle! You brought us the return of the Man of Tomorrow to the big screen, the definitive departure of Scott "Earmuffs" Summers from the same, and an explosion of superhero and comics-based content on our home television sets! You took with you Justice League Unlimited, and we enter the first era of television in which we have been without the Bruce Timm DCU since 1992! You came bearing a risky one year flip that somehow paid off, the Incredible Hulk's transformation into Conan the Barbarian on a distant planet, and Alan Moore writing straight up porn! You brought us the Shadowpact, the 198 and Brad Meltzer creating one hell of a League! And above all other things, you brought us the highest caliber of storytelling we've seen in a very long time! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts! But we shed not a tear, for there's so much to come! The long awaited (and awaited, and awaited, and awaited) conclusion of Marvel's latest crossover, and the remaining 18 Weeks (or seconds, or robots, or whatever the hell they're revealed to be) of DC's groundbreaking 52! Spider-Man 3, 300, Ghost Rider and a sequel to Fantastic Four that actually looks really awesome! We'll learn what's next for the newly reformed Justice Society of America, find out what that Illuminati have really been up to and brace for contact with the Monitors! So adieu, 2006, and make way for the future; if it's half as good as you've been, it's more than we deserve!
Best Book All Star Superman The mastery of this universally beloved exploration of the Man of Steel at his most iconic cannot be overstated. With this book, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely may have created the finest homage to the entire pantheon of Superman comic books in the history of the medium, and one gosh wow bimonthly good time. Best Issue Superman/Batman Annual #1 Joe Kelly and Ed McGuiness re-imagine the first meeting of Superman and Batman with the smartest, funniest and downright most exciting one-off of the year, offering an incredibly entertaining new take on comicdom's two biggest heroes; in short, everything an Annual should be. Best Hardcover Frank Miller's Sin City Library The beauty of pulp fiction was that regardless of the crumbling, flaky paper, no matter how faded the cheap ink might have been, the raw force of the narrative overcame the limitations of the medium, appealing to human nature's most primal elements. Dark Horse's immaculate over-sized volumes of Frank Miller's hard-boiled magnum opus is not just a publication - it's an exercise in pop art, making the low high, the high low, and is something to experience. Best Trade The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion The apocryphal "half chapters" contained in this volume enrich the previously released collection of Don Rosa's mid-nineties masterpiece so thoroughly that you just might find yourself ranking Scrooge McDuck as one of the most complicated, interesting and loveable figures in all of literature, and Rosa's chapter by chapter commentaries exhaust the nagging questions of the even the most obsessive Duckfans. Best Event Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event in Seven Parts This website has a real love for Geoff Johns, and his top-notch work on not one but two of the three biggest events of the past year (DC's Infinite Crisis and 52) merits him all the commendation we can muster. However, it is Mark Millar's Civil War that is the year's greatest comic book event; within this schismatic masterpiece, the history of Marvel Comics pretty damn near reaches its apotheosis. Instead of creating yet another nigh omnipotent antagonist bent on the destruction of reality, Millar chose to look inward and have his numerous protagonists face their greatest challenge of all: one another. Not only has this provided the main title with a mythic significance, but it has imbued all of the tie-ins, one-shots and specials with an urgency and intelligence never before seen in a universe-wide crossover, as every single hero must decide for himself whose side he is on. Excellence in Writing Geoff Johns Jeph Loeb Mark Millar Grant Morrison Gail Simone Excellence in Art Ed Benes John Cassaday Brian Hitch Tim Sale Frank Quitely Excellence in Editing Eddie Berganza Tom Brevoort Mike Marts Michael Siglain Steve Wacker