$oss' Best of 2011

2011 was a great year for comic fans. Publishers made bold moves to reinvigorate properties. Every other week in the summer brought a new comic influenced film. The rise of the digital comic allowed fans to buy and trade books at anytime from anywhere. The stories told in these books were some of the most exciting and original in years. While it was a tough task to determine my personal favorites of this year I'm overjoyed that the past year brought so many worthy candidates. Without further adieu, $oss' picks for the Best of 2011:

Best Moment: DC's New 52 Relaunch 

There can only be one event that defines my comic reading habits in 2011, The New 52. When it was announced in the spring that DC would cancel all of it's titles and release reimagined versions of their classic heroes I knew there was only one logical explanation. Jim Lee and Geoff Johns were hooked on some STRONG hallucinogens! It sounded so crazy to take these iconic characters and significantly alter their costumes, histories and personalities. It turns out that was exactly what the doctor (fate) ordered. 

 I can only speak to my personal experiences but never in my twenty odd years of collecting have I witnessed a more energized and enthusiastic comic community. From hardcore DC heads to staunch Marvel supporters to new fans and non fans everyone was excited to get a glimpse of what DC had up their sleeve. And what was the best part about this? The stories actually lived up to the hype! Old favorites like Wonder Woman and Superman were given badly needed tune-ups and interesting new directions. Lesser known heroes like Animal Man and Swamp Thing were placed in the spotlight aided by top notch creative teams. And in the case of Green Lantern and Batman if it wasn't broke....no need to fix it. 

While in 2011 we saw a bi-racial Spider-Man, Hellboy met his demise and more gut wrenching character drama in The Walking Dead this year belonged to the Distinguished Competition. 

Runner up: The break up of the X-Men

Best Writer: Scott Snyder (Detective Comics, American Vampire, Swamp Thing) 

Snyder craved his named into this past year with a laser. His tale of vampires in the old west in American Vampire received high marks as did his coming of age horror tale, Severed. He then delivered memorable takes on both Dick Grayson (Detective Comics) and Bruce Wayne (Batman) as they wore the cape and cowl. My favorite piece of work would have to be the reintroduction of Swamp Thing into the DC Universe.

Runner up: Jason Aaron (Uncanny X-Men, Scalped, Punisher: Max)

Best Artist: Mikel Janin (Justice League Dark)
Mikel Janin's comics should come with a warning label. They are that disturbing. Every month in the pages of Justice League Dark there is always something awful waiting for me. Eyeballs raining 
from the sky. Witches tearing their own flesh off. Children eating their teachers. Horrible imagery 
has never looked so beautiful. Janin's panels are like the best horror movie with all your favorite 
comic hero's trapped in the middle of the mayhem.

Runner up: Travel Forman (Animal Man)

Best Title (Marvel): Moon Knight

We always heard about how crazy Marc Spector was but no one has ever illustrated it quite like Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Among the recurring characters featured are Captain America, Wolverine and Spider-Man.....well they are more like the voices in Moon Knights head. Bendis mixes elements of crime noir with a health dose of humor to deliver Marvels most consistently entertaining read of the year. 

Runner up: The Uncanny X-Men

Best Title (DC): Animal Man

Jeff Lemaire and Travel Forman's twisted roller coaster ride was the biggest surprise of all the titles featured in DC's relaunch. Using the building blocks provided by Grant Morrison, Lemaire takes Buddy Baker and family to even stranger places. Forman has a style that wouldn't work for most superhero books. Thankfully Animal Man contains enough creatures and weirdness to make his illustrations feel right at home.

Runner up: Wonder Woman

Best Story Arc: Punisher MAX: Frank

I thought I knew everything about how Frank Castle became The Punisher. I thought he was a happy family man. I thought it was an accident that the Castle family was gunned down in the park. I'm so happy that Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon showed me differently. The curtain is pulled back on the details of Castle's family life after his return from Vietnam and how truly damaged he is. We learn that his families murder in the park did not create a monster it simply opened the door to the cage that held it.
 

Runner up: The Walking Dead: No Way Out