Welcome again to Leave Your Spandex At the Door and the Nexus, wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
This is column 111, continuing our holiday special week and ushering in 2008!
Keeping up with a tradition dating back to this column’s launch 5 years ago (damn), once again we’ve invited the best and coolest of this year’s comics community to celebrate with us in two very special holiday columns! And of course, tune in daily in the LYS@D blog for more holiday stupidness.
For introductions check back to part 1 of our roundtable, with replacement Santas, christmas presents which break the Fourth Wall and suggestions for our younger readers!
On to part 2!
Manolis: Happy New Year everyone!
Looking back at the past year in comics, what was your favourite/proudest moment from your own comics?
Cecil Castellucci: I would say that getting to be a part of the launch of the Minx line with THE PLAIN JANES was pretty amazing. I feel so proud to be writing graphic novels for young adults and hopefully getting girls to like comics.
Cliff Chiang: I’d have to say the last issue of DOCTOR 13.
Paul Cornell: I was very proud of the ending of WISDOM, of being able to complete the story in a proper way.
Nate Cosby: I’m most proud of MINI MARVELS. Chris Giarrusso continues to confound and surprise and amaze me with his creativity and ability. I feel so lucky that I’m involved with the highest-quality writer AND artist working for Marvel right now. If I had to put a finer point on it time-wise, I was exuberantly excited that I was able to get G’s interpretation of Planet Hulk/World War Hulk in two high-selling books (World Breaker and Aftersmash). Expect as many new Mini Marvels (AND Chris Giarrusso-written comics!) as I’m allowed to put in Marvel books.
Jason Aaron: Really, the whole year has been one long favorite moment for me. But if I have to narrow it down, I’d say getting my first trade paperbacks in print over the summer. That’d be THE OTHER SIDE and SCALPED Volume One, both from Vertigo.
Nicola Scott: Drawing Gail Simone’s last issue of BIRDS OF PREY. There was a brutal smack down, a showy four page splash and tears.
Mike Carey: Probably that X-MEN Marauders plotline referred to earlier. I thought it hit all the beats I wanted and needed it to, and since I was manoeuvring the biggest cast I’d ever handled, it could all have fallen apart really badly. Favourite actual moment within the plotline… probably Iceman and Cannonball’s last stand against the combined might of the Marauders and Mister Sinister himself. They can’t win, but they go down fighting and snatch a kind of victory from a really desperate situation. It was just a blast getting to tell that story – kind of, Mutant Massacre act 2…
Christos Gage: Just in terms of sheer fun, WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN was an absolute blast for me to work on, and I was glad people enjoyed it.
Manolis: Which stories and titles stand out as your favourite from 2007?
Cecil Castellucci: I loved ALL-STAR SUPERMAN. DMZ. Y THE LAST MAN. ASTONISHING X-MEN. THE ARRIVAL. ROBOT DREAMS. CURSES.
Cliff Chiang: SCALPED, DMZ, GREEN LANTERN, any of the SHOWCASE editions
Paul Cornell: This year I particularly liked: The AVENGERSs titles; CAPTAIN AMERICA; Gail Simone’s ATOM (and all her work); Morrison and Dini’s BATMAN books; 52; DAN DARE.
Nate Cosby: Hrmmmmm…hang on, I gotta check what came out this year. SPIDERMAN FAMILY #7 was really good (Chris Eliopoulos’ Frog Thor!). Everything Jeff Parker did (X-MEN FIRST CLASS, his issues MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS), everything Fred Van Lente did (MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN – FANTASTIC FOUR – SPIDER-MAN, SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP, FANTASTIC FOUR/POWER PACK). THE SPIRIT was REALLY good. Hmmmm…oh! ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN keeps being good.
Jason Aaron: THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST, DMZ, CRIMINAL, CASANOVA, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, FEAR AGENT, SENTENCES: THE LIFE OF M.F. GRIMM, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: THE BLACK DOSSIER.
Christos Gage: I’ll mention five that I really enjoy and think should be getting more attention: I think CROSSING MIDNIGHT from Vertigo is an extremely well done horror/fantasy book that should be on more peoples’ radar. JONAH HEX continues to be top-notch, as it has been since it began. WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY is something every fan of Gail Simone should check out; it’s up there with her best stuff, and you don’t need to follow any other books to enjoy it. Ed Brubaker’s CRIMINAL is bringing hard-boiled crime back to comics in a brilliant way. And Oni’s RESURRECTION is off to a very promising start. There are many more, but I’ve only got so much space!
Nicola Scott: Gail’s start on WONDER WOMAN and Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory, particularly the ZATANNA and KLARION stories lines.
Mike Carey: I got a lot of pleasure out of CIVIL WAR. If you’re going to do big event comics, then you should do them like this: really huge and epic, and with a real-world significance hiding behind the super-heroics.
I was blown away – as most long-term BUFFY fans were – by Joss Whedon’s triumphant continuation of the Vampire Slayer’s story in season eight.
I read a weird, haunting, silly but poignant manga called THE CLARENCE PRINCIPLE that I liked a lot. And I loved the first volume of the re-released Parasyte.
Manolis: What are you most looking forward to, for 2008?
Cecil Castellucci: More NORTHLANDERS by Brian Wood. All of the new MINX books (including Emiko Superstar, NY Four, Burnout, Token, All Nighter, and of course my own Janes in Love!) THE GOOD NEIGHBOURS by Holly Black. CHIGGERS by Hope Larson. RAPUNZEL’S REVENGE by Shannon Hale. And anything SUPERMAN.
Cliff Chiang: Just getting more issues of GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY under my belt!
Paul Cornell: I’m most looking forward to the rest of DAN DARE, Gail’s WONDER WOMAN, and Marvel’s big event.
Nate Cosby: The football season. Mississippi State’s winnin’ EIGHT this year, baby!!!!!
Oh, you mean comics? Huh. Well, I hope the IRON MAN movie’s good. And DARK KNIGHT. I don’t really know what’s coming out as far as non-continuity stuff, so I couldn’t tell ya what I’m excited about yet. That’s the nice thing about reading comics that don’t tie into other comics: You can go to the store, see a cool cover, open it up, just start reading without having to catch up on the lore.
Oh! Mike Kunkel’s SHAZAM’ll end up being good, I bet. That guy’s awesome.
Jason Aaron: Reading NORTHLANDERS from Vertigo and ’76 from Image.
Writing more SCALPED and getting my hands on GHOST RIDER.
Nicola Scott: Whatever’s next.
Mike Carey: THE BLACK DOSSIER, which I haven’t managed to pick up yet. I know, I know, that’s an evasive answer. How about SECRET INVASION?
Manolis: Thanks again to Mike, Tom, Nicola, Christo, Paul, Cecil, Cliff, Nate, and Jason; and a Happy New Year to everyone from me and the Comics Nexus team!
That’s a wrap for this week! Check back to our blog for more of regular scheduled content!
I’m waiting your comments and feedback through email to Manolis@gmail.com. If you self-publish your own comics or represent an Indy comics company, add me to your press release list, and I will run your news in this space every week.
Manolis Vamvounis
a.k.a. Dr. Dooplove
