Best of 2014 Awards – Best DC Comics

Grayson – I love a good spy story. Velvet has been a great read over at Image, so when I heard DC was going to put out a spy series starring Dick Grayson, I definitely had to check it out. This has been a very fun series so far, with some really good stand alone issues. And the Future’s End issue is easily the single best comic I’ve read for the entire year.

Batman Eternal – Lots of times comics promise to change the status quo, but fail to deliver. Batman Eternal definitely seems to buck that trend. It has completely reshaped Gotham City and the Batfamily. The only problem with this book is that so many of the other Batman series seem to be dealing with the ramifications BEFORE Batman Eternal has actually ended, so it makes it hard to figure out how everything fits together.

Justice League 3000 – I will admit this might only be on the list since it’s so fresh on my mind. I just did a marathon reading of it this week. But, I do think it’s a very entertaining title with tons of great twists and turns. I loved the “Five” as villains, even if they were basically taken down too easily. Giffen and DeMatteis are a great team, and I am always happy to see them together.

Honorable Mention: Astro City – Astro City has been one of my favorite comics since it debuted close to 20 years ago. Throughout the years, it’s often a bit inconsistent in it’s release schedule, but the current Astro City series has been coming out every month. It’s been great to have a regular doze of Astro City so this book earns it’s spot on the list.

Wonder Woman – Azzarello and Chiang made this the best WW series ever. I pretend it has been cancelled.

Green Arrow – Lemire and Sorrentino’s work will be talked about years from now. I also pretend this book has been cancelled since they left.

Grayson – It took me a while to get into this series, but now I’m there and loving it.

Honorable Mentions: Gotham by Midnight, and Batgirl – It’s too early to decide how I feel about these books but I’m hopeful.

Wonder Woman – I think the real test of how amazing a book was is seeing how quickly it falls apart under a new creative team. Under Azzarello and Chiang, Wonder Woman was one of my favorite books month in and month out for three years, more than septupling my longest period of time reading any of her titles over the course of twenty years. Really, I’m just happy to finally have a Wonder Woman run that I can hold up and say “Best. Wonder Woman. Ever.”

Green Arrow – Jeff Lemire went ahead and wrote a definitive run on Green Arrow, and he did so by blowing up the trash that the New 52 set him up with. It was fun, it was exciting, it had fantastic art, and it made absolutely no sense when Ollie showed up in other books and I LOVED THAT! The book wrapped up with the Future’s End issue, showing us the conclusion five years down the line, and providing a fitting epilogue to the characters.

Flash – I half expected Venditti and Jensen to come on to Flash and make me hate it like they did with Green Lantern, and I have never been quite so happy to have been wrong. There’s something about New 52 Barry, and maybe it’s that DC wanted him to be awesome as they geared up for his show, but he lacks my biggest old school DCU complaint…he’s a fun and engaging character. I care about him, I care about his job, I care about his personal life. Hell, I care about Wally, and could not begin to care less that he’s black now. Oh, also, the Future Flash stuff? BRILLIANT! This book is sci-fi gold, and like Green Arrow, made full use of it’s Future’d End issue to further it’s own story.

Batman and Robin – It’s hard to pick just one Batman book, but if I have to, this is the one. Peter Tomasi has been writing a fantastic version of the character as he handles Bruce dealing with the death of Damian. From grieving to trying to save Damian’s body, this book has been absolutely must read. Plus, right now it’s Batman on Apokolips with Red Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl (all in Robin outfits) trying to recover Damian’s body…and bring him back alive. Tomasi is turning in some of the best work of his career, and Pat Gleason is turning in easily the best work of his career (and I say this as someone who swore by their Green Lantern Corps as the pinnacle of both).

Justice League – This book was a complete dud not too long ago, so the upswing makes me happy. Jim Lee left, and with artists like Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke, and Jason Fabok we’ve seen the book shift from a splashy sales piece into the Geoff Johns Justice League that we’ve somehow never had. This was a big year, with Trinity War and Forever Evil taking up most of it, and Geoff making the most out of his events in the pages here. I dunno, there’s no real reason why I should put this over any of my honorables, but I guess it would have to be that Justice League is actually good and I had lost all hope after the first year.

Wonder Woman – Ugh, I find it hard to talk about this book right now. The other guys have it pretty much covered.

Justice League – DC has kept this title humming as their flagship title and there hasn’t been an issue or arc that has felt phoned in this year. I like that they put strong artists on this title as well.

Grayson – This title really surprised me this year. I didn’t really expect much from it, but I was hoping to like it. If this title can keep up the quality then I’ll feel more secure in liking it (hoping that they don’t pull the rug out and slap him back into his Nightwing costume too quickly). I like Dick and it’s good to see him standing on his own in a different kind of setting.