I know what all of you were thinking: “Sweet, they just did Best Writer, Best Title must be next.” Well, yeah, normally you’d be right. But, we are throwing in a couple of extras this year in the form of the Best Moments of 2004 and the Best Single Issues of 2004. Think of it as the I Love the 80’s Strikes Back of our awards. Or, as I do, think of it as another dose of pure AWESOMENESS!!!
Things work a little different for these two categories. Rather than build a top ten list, all Nexus staffers were instead invited to submit one choice for Best Moment (and explain) and one choice for Best Issue (and explain). (Oh, and Ben submitted a list for both. But he’s Ben, so I let him get away with it.) Then, I simply turned around and sent their opinions right on to you, the reader. Each entry is preceded by the write’s name who chose it, in bold and blue font. It is an unfiltered look at what each of us, as individuals, thought was best in ’04.
Anyway, we lead off this two day detour with the Best Moment category and Will Cooling arguing for a moment that I guarantee no one else chose.
Best Moments
Will Cooling
This is made hard by my addiction to comic message boards earlier in the year which meant the big three super-cool returns of the year (Magneto, Colossus and PJ Maybe) were spoiled for me. The result was (especially in the case of Magneto) a loss of impact for the moment you actually read the shocking twist. So I’m going for another one which is the return of Galen Demarco in the pages of The Simping Detective, which was not only the return of a great character (nearly ruined by Robbie Morrison though) but the most jaw droppingly, erection causing and drool worthy piece of comic cheesecake I’ve seen this side of Heavy Metal. Man did I love that thong!
Ben Morse
-Colossus returns (Astonishing X-Men #4)
-The fastball special action sequence (Astonishing X-Men #6)
-The JLA vs Deathstroke fight (Identity Crisis #3)
-Connor and Mia kiss (Green Arrow #44)
Paul Sebert
“You Are My Father!” – Usagi Yojimbo #75
In an year filled many jarring, tragic, sometimes senseless deaths, it can be a little hard not to be completely numb. That said, sometimes it’s the little moments that cut the hardest. Take issue number 75 of Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo, an issue’s who’s cover image was so powerful that they actually chose leave the book’s traditional logo off of it. Following numerous adventures with his illegitimate son Jotaro, Miyamoto Usagi finds himself standing at a crossroads. Faced with the possibility he may never see Jotaro again for years our hero contemplates if he should explain to the young lad his origins. Meanwhile as irony would turn out it appears the young boy has been keeping a secret of his own from Usagi.
In the 20th anniversary of his creation, Stan Sakai shows why he’s one of the true great masters of the comics industry crafting a finale to the arc that’s truly powerful.
Iain Burnside
Best moment of 2004? When Angel turned into a puppet!! Oh, wait, sorry, wrong Whedon franchise… Still, they’re all equally worthy at the end of the day. To comics then, and ASTONISHING X-MEN, when Whedon teamed with John Cassiday to produce what was, in my opinion, the best book on the market in 2004. I’ve chosen a different issue from this one as my actual Best Issue, but #6 had The Moment down pat. If you don’t know what The Moment is then I really can’t go into detail for fear of spoiling it for those of you that are waiting for the trade… Although, actually, the trade IS out now…
Maybe you’re waiting for the HC, I dunno, I’m just stalling with inane Bendis-sponsored ramblings right now… I will tell you that The Moment caused me to laugh out loud and actually say the words “too f*cking right” while in Starbucks, which got me more than a few funny looks… Still, it was worth it. The Moment involves an alien escaping the X-Men in his spacecraft… Got it yet? Oh, you will. If even a relative newcomer to the franchise like myself could appreciate it that much, then any of you long-term fans must have practically been wetting your pants when you seen the double page splash in question. To quote Wolverine… “I got just two words for you, bub…”
(FASTBALL SPECIAL?)
HELL YEAH!
Manolis Vamvounis
X-Statix 26
“Are you ready?”
“One last payday”
The X-Statix team is gathered in their theatre headquarters. They’ve finished briefing on their last mission, before they officially retire. This is the second to last page of their final issue. In the previous page to this, we’ve seen how the mission ended. Tike and Guy, best friends, last surviving members of the final X-Statix massacre, close their eyes and head to their deaths.
And in the flashback, Venus teleports everyone out to their deaths. The last page shows the now empty theatre. There are no captions, just ‘the End’.
Show’s over, curtain call for the X-Statix.
Matt Morrison
I am not, by training, or inclination an X-Fan. I do not subscribe to any X-Men books. I try to avoid reading most of the titles in the series and my hand starts to smoke whenever it is placed on anything written by Chris Claremont. Had you told me a year ago that the best moment in the coming year would come from an X-Men book that I would actually enjoy, I would probably laugh and say “I thought Grant Morrison was quitting X-Men?”
Joss Whedon needs to apply for sainthood, because he has performed a miracle and gotten me to enjoy an X-Men book. There were a lot of good moments in this title over the seven issues we saw this year, often spanning the full range of dramatic emotions. The humorous fight between Cyclops and Wolverine on the campus grounds in full view of the cheering students, excited at how undull their school smoothly fades into a tragic one-page scene where we see Emma Frost’s sadness at being everyone’s second-best choice. The Fantastic Four showing up as a giant monster is beaten into submission by the X-Men and The Thing complaining about their territory being cut into.
But the best moment of all was touching, sweet and even a little funny at the same time. In a franchise where sudden death and resurrection are more common than hydrogen, stupidity and Wolverine cameos combined, the scene in Astonishing X-Men #5 in which Shadowcat confronts a “not-quite-dead” Colossus managed to be amazingly tasteful and managed to restore one great character without in any way diminishing his early death scene; one of the few good X-Men stories within the last ten years.
From Kitty’s hopeful yet sarcastic remarks as she accuses Peter of being a clone, a robot or something else to his sudden sweet touched attitude as Kitty describes his funeral and how she scattered his ashes… the whole scene works on so many levels, for fans and non-fans alike.
Mike Lawrence
Enter Electro, New Avengers #1- I know what your thinking: What? Is he insane? I’m as peeved off as every other true blue Marvelite about the removal of beloved traditional characters in lieu of overexposed ones. And yeah, David Finch’s characters all have that “smell a fart” face that isn’t very becoming, but still, I gotta say the treatment of Electro as a formidable threat was phenomenal. This is a guy who should be to electricity what Magneto is to magnetism, and this issue singe-handdedly showed how powerful he could be. The splash page of the lightning bolt blasting through the prison was a thing of beauty. I love the megalomaniac villains as much as other fans, but it’s always the little guys, the supporting villain trying to make a quick buck and a name for himself that I root for above all else. And any time one of them lives up to their true potential, I’m all for it.
I’ll still look at the New Avengers with rage and bitterness, but also with curiousity, and the hope that someone else will get the big push they deserve.
Tim Stevens
Recalling one favorite moment of 2004 is a bit preposterous (he says as he forces other staffers to do it) and me having edited this piece has not made it any easier for me to zero in on a moment. There are plenty that stood out in my mind: Colossus’s return, Matt Murdock admitting to his post-Karen Page mental breakdown, the Titans meeting their future selves, Cold catching Mirror Master with a face full of nose candy, etc. However, I have to side with one that am surprised made no one else’s list.
Alex revealed as the betrayer of the Runaways.
It made no sense. After all, it was Alex who suggested they hit the road in the first place. It was he who rallied and organized the team, who translated their parents’ ancient text to give the kids an edge, the brains of the operation, one half of a sweet budding romance (with Nico). How could he be the traitor?
And that’s why it was so perfect.
You, as the reader, were placed in the exact same position as the rest of the Runaways. It hit like a load of bricks, startling and paralyzing all at once. Sure, we always knew there was a traitor amongst them, but him? And like this?
The “like this” is another reason this moment makes the list. Alex, who had always been kind of nerdy and a bit shy, certainly the least powerful member of the group, took them down with impressive ease. One by one each of his compatriots were sidelined and one by one he cannibalized their abilities to his advantage. It was the Lex Luthor syndrome in full effect: no matter who powerful you are, a “normal” man with genius brainpower will always prove your better.
It might not have been the happiest moment of ’04, but it stands out to me as the best.
Well there you go, the Best Moments of 2004. I may be getting more in as the week progresses so be sure to look for an UPDATED slug beside it on the front page and check it out to see what others on this fine site loved in ’04.
Tomorrow brings the other supplemental category, Best Single Issue and then Thursday”¦”¦”¦.BEST TITLE! Get ready!
Special thanks to Mike Lawrence who submitted a great piece for this and best issue. He’s an Inside Pulse staffer, not specifically a Nexus one, but the piece was great and it was very cool of him to volunteer to help us out. So big ups to Mike!
See you tomorrow!
