The Best of 2012 - COMICS!

Rounding out our Best of 2012 posts is this grab bag of things that caught our eye. This award is for the kooky stuff, so hit the jump to see what are final say was for the year 2012.

Best COMICS!

Ryan's Best COMICS! - HAWKEYE

My choice has to be Hawkeye. This comic is a masterclass on what comics are, what comics can be, and what comics should be. This book personifies what can happen when a collaboration just works so damn well. This book is the closing statement you slap the jury with when explaining why this medium rocks so hard and why it deserves to be taken seriously while still being enjoyed. This is high art via pop art and sometimes slumming it with low-brow art.

Hawkeye is the book you need to read. Full stop.

Taylor's Best COMICS! - PROPHET

Who would have thought this time last year that the most exciting, forward thinking, artistically driven comic book of 2012 would be released by industry whipping boy Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios imprint? The tale of multiple John Prophets peppered throughout the universe all on a quest for, well something is a joy to behold with each issue. Brandon Graham's writing is baffling and exciting in equal measure but the true star of the show is the artwork of the combined talents of Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, Giannis Milogiannis and Graham himself, each handling a different John Prophet and each in with a shout of being the best artist working today.

Grant's Best COMICS! - ADVENTURE TIME

Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb's Adventure Time adaptation is one of the wackiest, craziest, and best comics coming out right now.  North brings his signature wit and laffs to each and every issue, while Paroline and Lamb's art manages to both be true to the show while also experimenting with the possible of comic book storytelling.  Whether it was Lich attacks, time travel trials, or video game hijinx, Adventure Time was a consistent fix as some of the most fun and entertaining comics I had the pleasure of reading all year, and I can't imagine what else you'd want from your comics.

Ken's Best COMICS! - SCARLET SPIDER

Ryan took Hawkeye, so I'm not wanting to step on his toes about that book (and everything he says is correct). I think what makes Scarlet Spider so fun is that it feels like the correct path a book from the 80's would take had it not gone through the 90's to get here. It's got the classic Spider-Man feel but because Kaine is much more an anti-hero it doesn't feel like it is repeating anything, the characters are compelling and funny, the book balances action into every issue, it was the breakout book for Ryan Stegman, and in general it's just fun and has a callback to the way comics used to be written. If you really don't like the status quo of Amazing/Superior Spider-Man, give this book a shot, I think you'll stick around.

Best Fight

Taylor - CF vs Undigestible Scrotum, Prison Pit 4 by Johnny Ryan

Fights are meant to be violent and no one does truly hideous violence like Johnny Ryan. Disgusting, hilarious and entirely preposterous, there is no message to take from this fight or in fact the whole of Prison Pit but it sure is fun.

Ryan - Batman in the Ass Kicking Mofo Suit vs the Talons

When Batman opened the doors and was wearing something akin to an Iron Man suit of armour I have to admit the fanboy within me squealed long and hard. The concept, mixed with the great execution of the art, promised and delivered a bombastic fight that really stood up and demanded attention. This was cool, and sometimes that's exactly what you need.

Note: I asked on twitter what the name of this suit was and that was the name Greg Capullo told me. Who am I to argue?

Grant - Shorty and Baldy vs Mind Controlled Lady Pirates / Deep Thool vs Pirate Ship

Issues #16 and #17 of Jim Zub and Edwin Huang's Skullkickers were pretty much one big, extended fight, and it was a thing of beauty.  Shorty and Baldy had their hands full with a ship full of mind controlled piratesses, but a humongous Deep Thool (think what a Kracken and giant octopus would get if they had a baby) flexing with the ship itself wasn't the most helpful thing.  However, it was helpful to my enjoyment of the issues, as Zub and Huang linked these two fights together beautifully, having one impact the other and vice versa.  I particularly enjoyed how the panels would be angled to represent how much the ship was being rocked by the Deep Thool.  A small detail that made the whole thing better.


Ken - The People vs. The Children of Tomorrow

What was basically the next step of humanity in either mutant or time displaced form, this battle was short but sweet, and when you have a black hole show up it's also pretty cool. And then on top of this you had the Hulk do some damage for a bit. Just the sense of scale of this fight in the book is what made it stand out this year.

Best Moment

Taylor - Fix this dog, Hawkeye #1

Ken - Grenade Punch, X-O Manowar #5

Ryan - Uncanny X-Force's Happy Ending **SPOILERS**

The second to final page to Remender's run had me misting up. Pretty damn perfect.

Grant - Jepperd's Last Stand

With the whole Sweet Tooth crew finally in Alaska, it almost seemed like that happy ending they were working towards was going to happen without a hitch.  Of course, Jeff Lemire couldn't let things happen so easily for his characters, so Abbott and company reared their ugly heads once more.  Therefore, it was left to Jepperd and Jimmy to protect the rest of the group, and while the entire sequence was glorious, this image of Jepperd leaping from that building still sends chills down my spine.

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