Final Awards for 2007

The Revolution has never been a big fan of New Year’s. I find it generally a depressing holiday. Having said that, since 2007 is over it is time for the unoriginal and perfunctory end of the year awards. The Revolution is going to hand out the award for the best writer of 2007, the best artist of 2007, the best Marvel title of 2007, the best DC title of 2007, the best single issue of 2007, and the worst single issue of 2007.

Here are the nominees for the best writer of 2007:

Geoff Johns (52, Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Justice Society of America, Action Comics, and Booster Gold)

Brad Meltzer (Justice League of America)

Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Daredevil, Iron Fist Uncanny X-Men and Criminal)

Peter David (X-Factor and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man)

Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men)

Charles & Daniel Knauf (Iron Man)

Charlie Huston (Moon Knight)

The Winner: Geoff Johns.

All of the nominees for this award are supremely talented men who all delivered some fantastic reads during 2007. And each one of these writers is certainly deserving of this award. However, there can only be one. And I give deference to writers who are able to write more than one title and do it in an impressive fashion. That means this comes down to Geoff Johns versus Ed Brubaker.

Both men are able to write multiple titles and still make all of their titles consistently strong reads each and every month. Marvel leans heavily on Ed Brubaker to carry their flagship title in the Uncanny X-Men as well as Captain America, Daredevil and Iron Fist. Brubaker has managed to finally breathe some life into Uncanny X-Men which has been such a moribund title for a very long time.

Yet, Brubaker’s real accomplishments have been on Daredevil and Captain America. These two titles showcase Brubaker at his best. Brubaker delivers well crafted dialogue and complex story arcs that are delivered in a slow burn method. Brubaker simply knows how to create more tension in the reader than just about any other writer in the industry.

However, the award for the Best Writer of 2007 goes to Geoff Johns. I give it to Johns based on the fact that while Marvel leans on Brubaker, DC flat out asks Johns to carry its company on his back. Johns is the spine that forms the entire DCU.

In 2007, Johns has worked on 52, Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Justice Society of America, Action Comics, and Booster Gold. That is phenomenal. And what is even more incredible is that not only is he able to work on multiple titles at one time, but Johns is still able to make all of his various titles consistently good performers every month. Marvel could survive without Brubaker. It would be a loss, but they could get by. I think DC would probably die without Johns.

And JSA and Booster Gold have been such strong reads. They are certainly two of the better titles on the market. And then you have Johns’ Green Lantern which is simply the best title on the market. No title has been hotter during 2007 than Green Lantern. And I suspect that Green Lantern will remain white hot all the way to the summer of 2009 when the Blackest Night story arc kicks off.

Here are the nominees for the best artist of 2007:

David Aja (Iron Fist)

John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men)

Ivan Reis (Green Lantern)

Ed Benes (Justice League of America)

Pasqual Ferry (Ultimate Fantastic Four)

The Winner: Ivan Reis

I have great respect for all the nominees for this award. I have always found it much more difficult to grade artists than to grade writers. Art seems so much more subjective. It is easy to pick apart poor writing. You can look at the character development, dialogue, plotting, pacing, etc. However, with artwork, it isn’t nearly as easy. And what one person finds to be gorgeous artwork, another is going to be summarily unimpressive with it.

I went with Ivan Reis since he did an incredible job brining the Sinestro War story arc to life. I found the Sinestro War story arc to be the best story arc of 2007 and a large part of its success was the grand scope and feel that Reis gave this war.

Here are the nominees for The Che for the best Marvel title of the year:

Astonishing X-Men

Captain America

Daredevil

Iron Man

X-Factor

The Winner: Captain America.

All of these titles from the House of Ideas are excellent reads and are certainly worth giving a try. I had to give it to Captain America because Brubaker has been absolutely stellar on this title ever since the death of Steve Rogers. And the mark of a truly talented writer is when he can hook me on a character that I have never liked before. I always found Captain America to be rather lame and vanilla. Brubaker made me fall in love with this character and then managed to make Captain America an even better read without Steve Rogers than it was with him.

Here are the nominees for The Che for the best DC title of the year:

Batman

Booster Gold

Green Lantern

Justice League of America

Justice Society of America

Teen Titans

The Winner: Green Lantern

Again, all of these titles are great reads and I certainly recommend giving them a try. I had to go with Green Lantern because what Johns has done on this title is simply legendary. Johns has cemented himself as THE Green Lantern writer with the way he has handed the Green Lantern mythos. I firmly believe that we are watching history unfold with what Johns is doing on Green Lantern.

Here are the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst Marvel title of the year:

Amazing Spider-Man

Ghost Rider

New Avengers

Punisher: War Journal

Wolverine: Origins

The Winner: Amazing Spider-Man

All of these titles have had a wretched year in 2007. All of these titles were practically unreadable for the entire year. I had to go with Amazing Spider-Man which just narrowly edged out New Avengers. Amazing Spider-Man has been an abysmal read ever since Amazing Spider-Man #537 which came out in January of 2007 and managed to belch forth horrendous reads each and every month all the way to the crowning blow in Amazing Spider-Man #545 in December.

Here are the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst DC title of the year:

Countdown to Final Crisis

Flash

Superman

Trials of Shazam

The Winner: Trials of Shazam

All of these titles have sucked big time all throughout 2007. It would have been so easy to just hand this award to Countdown, but after checking out the reviews I have to admit that there have been issues that I have enjoyed during the course of Countdown. On the other hand, Trials of Shazam has been unreadable from practically the start. Both titles are bad, but Judd Winick is able to take being horrid to all new levels with Trials of Shazam.

Here are the nominees for The Che for the best Marvel issue of the year:

Astonishing X-Men #22. For the review click here.
Captain America #25. For the review click here.
Captain America #28. For the review click here.
Captain America #31. For the review click here.
Daredevil #93. For the review clickhere.
Iron Man #18. For the review click here.
Iron Man #21. For the review click here.
Iron Man #23. For the review click here.
Thor #1. For the review click here.
Uncanny X-Men #492. For the review click here.
X-Factor #16. For the review click here.

The Winner: X-Factor #16

Yeah, I know that this is a huge surprise and a massive upset. And I know that I’m going to be the only person who likes this choice for this award. I was all set and ready to just hand this award to either Captain America #25 or Captain America #31.

Then I remembered X-Factor #16. Is it a huge issue? No. Did it deal with some massive event or story arc? No. And, yet, it was still an incredibly well written read. And that is why it edged out the two issues of Captain America. It is easy to write an incredible issue when dealing with a massive event such as the death of Steve Rogers. But, being able to write just as a touching and emotional read without a big event attached to it is even more impressive. And that is why I had to switch things up at the last minute and give The Che for best single Marvel issue to X-Factor #16.

Here are the nominees for The Che for the best DC issue of the year:

52 #52. For the review click here.
Action Comics #848. For the review click here.
Booster Gold #1. For the review click here.
Booster Gold #5. For the review click here.
Green Lantern #21. For the review click here.
Green Lantern #25. For the review click here.
Flash: Fastest Man Alive #13. For the review click here.
Justice League of America #6. For the review click here.
Justice League of America #8. For the review click here.
Justice League of America #9. For the review click here.
Justice Society of America #6. For the review click here.

The Winner: Green Lantern #25

This is no surprise, huh? Green Lantern #25 was not just well written, but it also had a massive impact on the Green Lantern mythos and also sets the stage for what should be an incredible read in the Blackest Night story arc.

Here are the nominees for The Che for the best issue of the year:

X-Factor #16
Green Lantern #25

The Winner: Green Lantern #25.

Like I said before, Green Lantern #25 simply has it all.

And now the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst Marvel issue of the year:

Amazing Spider-Man #538. For the review click here.
Amazing Spider-Man #545. For the review click here.
New Avengers #27. For the review click here.
New Avengers #31. For the review click here.
Punisher: War Journal #7. For the review click here.
Punisher: War Journal #8. For the review click here.
Punisher: War Journal #9. For the review click here.
World War Hulk #5. For the review click here.

The Winner: Amazing Spider-Man #545

All of these issues were just unbelievably horrid reads. But, Amazing Spider-Man #545managed to storm onto the scene in the final week of 2007 and win this award hands down. Joey Q’s pathetic obsession with ending Peter and MJ’s marriage made Amazing Spider-Man #545 a lock for this award.

And now the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst DC issue of the year:

Countdown to Final Crisis #24. For the review click here.
Countdown to Final Crisis #23. For the review click here.
Countdown to Final Crisis #22. For the review click here.
Titans East #1. For the review click here.

The Winner: Titans East #1

This crapfest of a read embodied everything that a writer should avoid doing if they want to be perceived as a professional writer with even a modicum of talent.

And now the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst issue of the year:

Amazing Spider-Man #545
Titans East #1

The Winner: Amazing Spider-Man #545

Joey Q’s award winning issue garners the top spot as the absolute worst read of the year. Congrats, Joey Q.

2007 gave us some fantastic reads. Here is to hoping that 2008 can deliver some equally exciting moments. And here is to hoping that the Skrull event doesn’t turn out to suck as much as Amazing Spider-Man #545 and that Final Crisis doesn’t suck as much as Countdown to Final Crisis. Happy New Year, everyone!