Here’s a bunch of stuff I thought was pretty swell in 2011!

Best Writer – Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Batman, Severed, Swamp Thing)

It would be impossible for this category to go to anyone other than Scott Snyder. Over the course of the year he kept his American Vampire series fresh and engaging, dragged Swamp Thing from the depths and made him awesome again, wrote hands-down the best Batman book of the relaunch (and, in my opinion, the best Batman book ever written) and still found time to pen a seven-issue horror series called Severed. 2011 was Scott Snyder’s year and I can’t wait to read more of his great stuff in 2012.

Best Interior Artist – Stuart Immonen (Fear Itself)

Both Marvel and DC published some great looking books this year, but as far as WOW! factor goes, you just can’t beat Stuart Immonen’s seven-issue run on Matt Fraction’s Fear Itself event. Everyone who knows me knows I don’t generally go in for the big events, but this one really grabbed me and I’m sure most of the reason it did was thanks to Immonen’s knack for drawing jaw-dropping fight scenes. I literally had to slow myself down as I read these books because I was so stoked to turn the page and see what was coming next. Immonen is the man, and I’ll read anything he draws.

Best Colourist – Francesco Francavilla (Black Panther, Detective Comics)

Whenever you see a “Best Colourist” category, you almost always see Dave Stewart as the winner. Sorry Dave, not this time! Anyone who’s picked up a copy of Black Panther or Detective Comics in the last twelve months will instantly recognize Francesco Francavilla’s flashy use of colour. ESPECIALLY those deep reds and oranges. Don’t get me wrong, Dave Stewart is a perfect colourist, but Francavilla is a flamboyant colourist. On anyone else’s brush his colours simply wouldn’t work, but somehow he makes them look incredible on every page. Francavilla! Winner!

Best Inker – Jonathan Glapion (Batman)

Greg Capullo is doing an incredible job of pencilling DC’s flagship Batman title. Everyone knows that! But I don’t think enough credit is being given to his inker Jonathan Glapion. There’s a reason that book looks so great, and it’s almost entirely the way Glapion sets the mood with those deep, heavy blacks. I can’t remember another inker having such a careful hand with darkness and shadow since Mike Mignola and to be perfectly honest, Glapion might be better than Mignola. Yeah that’s right! I said it!

Best New Kid on the Block – Mahmud A. Asrar (Supergirl)

The biggest surprise coming out of the DC relaunch, for me, was Mahmud Asrar’s Supergirl art. I originally added this book to the pull-list for that kid Venus Toshiba, but after reading the first couple of pages, oh man, I just wasn’t ready for the jealousy. Asrar isn’t technically a new kid, having set foot in Image’s door back in 2007, but he’s made a real name for himself at DC in 2012 by producing one of the best looking books of the relaunch. Think Tim Sale-meets-Francis Manapul and you’re in the right ballpark. Amazing stuff that may prove detrimental to my marriage.

Best Cover – Adam Hughes (Batgirl No. 4)

This was a close call and could just as easily been Joao Ruas‘ beautiful piece for Fables #107. But instead I chose this cover because more than any other piece of art this year, Adam Hughes‘ Batgirl #4 cover embodied the bold spirit of everything DC Comics got right this year. Rebooting their entire line of comics back to #1, reinventing each and every hero (at the expense of alienating crusty old fanboys) and making their comics accessible to all new readers for the first time in decades took some balls. This cover doesn’t just depict Barbara Gordon(!) kicking the Mirror’s face right in. No, this cover visually represents DC Comics kicking their naysayer’s faces right in.

Best Single Issue – Hellboy: The Fury #3 (Dark Horse)

Hellboy died! For real! Wow! And what a beautifully written and illustrated end it was. Fulfilling his own destiny, Hellboy fights and destroys Nimue the dragon Queen of Blood at Ragna Rok, but has his heart removed and taken down to Hell by her spirit. There has never been a more brilliant or pitch-perfect end to a character in the history of comic books as Mike Mignola once again brings the medium to an all-new level. Duncan Fegredo, who for years now has been his brilliant apprentice, turns in the best pages since his astonishing debut on the title in 2007. This comic was hands-down the best single book released in 2011.

Best Continuing Series – The Mighty Thor (Marvel)

I love this book! It started off great under the team of Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel, and it continues being great under Fraction and the (newly returned) Pasqual Ferry. Like it was for a lot of people, 2012 was the year I became a Thor fan and with great writing like this it’s no wonder. Who knew my buddy Jason Copland could be so right about one thing and be so wrong about another?

Best Limited Series – American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest (Vertigo / DC)

I’m the kind of sucker that will always buy a spin-off of a comic I like, despite the fact that they’re almost always shoddily-written with B-list art. Well I guess nobody told Scott Snyder the way these things are supposed to work, because that kid sat down and wrote the best five-issue mini-series I’ve ever read. Right from the Felicia Book opening dream sequence (Yowza!) to the giant vampire / sunlight raygun nazi kill-a-thon, this book is one hell of a good time. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that Sean Murphy absolutely DESTROYS THE DC UNIVERSE when it comes to drawing the kinds of things that make eyes worth having. This series, start-to-finish was an absolute win.

Best Collection – Batman: The Black Mirror (DC)

Being the type who tries to collect everything in single issues, I only placed one new graphic novel on my bookshelf this year. But that one book was a real hum-dinger! For Christmas my folks bought me the collected Batman: The Black Mirror Ultimate Boner Edition (UBE) hardcover. I’m not gonna lie to you folks, I totally blew it when it came to picking this up when it ran for almost an entire year. Every month Detective Comics would come out and every month I’d look at it and think “I should be reading this book.” Well it turns out I was right the whole time. Snyder, Jock and Francavilla (aka the DC Holy Trinity) are the only ingredients you need for the tastiest collection of the year.

Biggest Character Comeback – Aquaman (DC)

Never.
In my life.
Did I ever.
Ever think I’d ever buy (let alone enjoy) an Aquaman comic book. Everyone knows Aquaman is a goof. Even kids don’t like Aquaman. And I never understood the appeal of Geoff Johns either. I always thought Johns was the kind of guy who wrote comics for the old-school fanboys. For the guys who’d been reading the book for thirty years and knew all the subtle references I was sure I wasn’t getting. So what does Johns do? He celebrates DC’s New 52 relaunch by relaunching the most inaccessible character of all time and making him AWESOME?! By writing an awful character so well that the first issue is currently flipping on eBay for FIFTY-FIVE DOLLARS?! Well played Johns. Well played.

Best Kung Fu – Shang-Chi (Marvel)

Well, the suits at Marvel seem determined to ruin Iron Fist completely (White and gold? Really? Like the original costume wasn’t wack enough?), but at least writers and artists are still flying Shang-Chi under the radar and keeping him cool. This summer’s Spider Island (non-) event was kind of ho-hum, but the three issue Deadly Hands of Kung Fu spin-off featuring Shang Chi and the Bride of Nine Spiders was awesome sauce! Sebastian Fiumara’s art was moody and creepy and at the same time kicky and punchy. What more could anyone ask for? I guess Secret Avengers #18. Speaking of which…

Best Series I Shouldn’t Have Cancelled – Secret Avengers (Marvel)

I started collecting Secret Avengers during the big Avengers re-launch of 2010 but it was one of the books that got culled due to it’s inherent meh-ness and my newfound spirit of financial prudency (I was broke). But lo and behold! The last five issues have been an absolute gold mine of awesome storytelling thanks to Warren Ellis and incredible art courtesy of Jamie McKelvie, Kev Walker, David Aja, Michael Lark and Alex Maleev respectively. I don’t know why Marvel would put such a great roster of talent on this book and leave the main Avengers title to that no-talent hack, but it doesn’t really matter. I should have kept buying this book in 2011.

Biggest Surprise of the Year – Avenging Spider-Man (Marvel)

Everyone hits that point with a superhero where they say “I’ve read every possible story I’d ever need to read with this character, so I quit forever.” For me, that was Spider-Man. I could only read so many stories about Peter, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, poor dead Uncle Ben and dear old Aunt May before I finally said “Enough is enough. No more Spider-Man comics.” And then comes Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira in 2011 with a new title called Avenging Spider-Man and there I go, reaching for my wallet to buy my first Spider-Man comic book in over a decade. What can I say? It’s probably the best book Marvel released all year, in terms of pure F-U-N. Exciting, dynamic art backed up with snappy and often hilarous writing. Avenging Spider-Man is the essence of what the character should be, with none of the sappy navel-gazing.

And that’s it! My Best-Of article for 2011! Maybe one day you’ll get Nuv’s list if they ever find where I buried his body and implant the sum of his knowledge and consciousness into a Commodore 64. But he’d probably just say he liked some bull-crap comics like Daken: Dark Wolverine or X-Force. WHATEVER!

Put one in the air!

– Ian

Leaving the grocery store the other day I checked out the toy vending machines (like all grown men do) and noticed that one of them has the most awesome Marvel figurines EVER inside! Well I happened to have the coin so like a sucker I stuffed my twoonie in the slot, prayed to Stan Lee for a Daredevil figure and turned the crank. And wouldn’t you just know? Ka-BOOM! Against all odds down came that iconic red-horned head! Now the protector of Hell’s Kitchen is also the protector of my kitchen. Hooray! Here’s a picture to make Nuv die of jealousy.

Anyway, let’s hand out the awards for the last two weeks in comics!

BEST JUMPING-OFF POINT: The award for Best Jumping-Off point goes to Animal Man #3. You know, sometimes you have to read a comic for a long time and spend a lot of your allowance money before you realize the book you’re reading is no good. Luckily this isn’t one of those books. Travel Foreman’s repulsive art was on thin ice from the beginning, but issue #3 is the last straw. Like Nuv’s face, every single panel in this book was a grotesque chore to look at. BLEH GROSS!

BEST KOOL-AID MAN REFERENCE: Nothing trumps awful art like great art, and brother, you can’t do better than Joe Madureira’s Avenging Spider-Man #1. We all knew it was gonna be something very special, but I had no idea it would be this fantastic! The only exposure I’d ever had with the legendary Joe Mad was through the epic video game Darksiders (creative director) but if this is what his comic work looks like, I’m gonna have to go find some Uncanny X-Men and Battle Chasers back issues.

BEST JAWS REFERENCE: I’ve always been a massive fan of the original Jaws movie (who isn’t?) and there’s always been a special place in my heart for the original Peanuts comic strip. So when Charles Foreman sat down a couple of months ago and mashed Spielberg’s story with Shultz’s style, well, genius happened. Check this out!

BEST WTF?!!??!? MOMENT: Remember when Infinite Vacation put out its first couple of issues? And we were all “What a clever and quirky story!” I really liked the low-level danger and some cute romance-y stuff! Well after a long delay the third issue finally came out last week and I’m guessing that sometime after issue #2 was released, Nick Spencer lost his goddamn mind. Have you read Infinite Vacation #3?! Hey, if you like torture, rape, cannibalism and genital mutilation, I HAVE GOT A BOOK FOR YOU. I had to check the front cover to make sure it was still being published by Image and not the idiots over at Avatar Press. Jeesh. I’m still gonna pull the last two issues of the series, but if his was an ongoing book I’d seriously consider dropping it just for the bait-and-switch alone.

BEST BADONKADONK: I try (and fail) not to talk about American Vampire all the time but it must be said that veteran artist Jordi Bernet is doing a pretty swell job as fill-in artist on the current “Beast in the Cave” storyline. In particular, the native vampire queen’s derriere in the last issue. Now, I’m not generally the type to go objectifying the ladies in this column, but Jumpin’ Jimminy! For an ancient monster who has lived countless years in a cave starving in self-exile, baby got back. That’s all I’m sayin’.

BEST EXAMPLE OF EVERYONE BEING WRONG EXCEPT FOR ME: All I read on the interwebs these days is people bitchin’ about Fear Itself. They bitched the whole way through Matt Fraction’s magnum opus and now with the arrival of aftermath issues 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3, people are downright fed up. Fed up with what? Awesome comics? Get your balls out of Bendis’ purse and form your own opinions. Opinions like mine? (wink, wink) If you read 7.2 last week you’d be as stoked as I am for the new year’s Thor comics! That book is going to continue being epic as long as Fraction is running the show and I just can’t wait.

AND FINALLY, THE AWARD FOR BEST SHILL-O-METER BOOK: Marvel put out a big fat preview of the events they have coming in 2012 and called it ‘Point One’. Basically they’re playing catch-up with DC. But here’s the kicker. The book was solicited at $5.99 (ridiculous!) but everyone knows Marvel shipped a LOT of extra copies to each comic shop. What good comic shops did was drop the price on the book right out of the gate. What huckster shops did was sell it to suckers at full price. Anyway, there’s a great preview for the upcoming Defenders comic written by good ol’ Fraction and drawn by my number one choice for a married-couple three-way, Terry and Rachel Dodson. DECENT! And the rest of the book is okay too, if you like Nova and Phoenix and Scarlet Spider. Eh. Meh. Nuh.

Anyways, party on everybody! Until next week!

– Ian

Here’s the downside though, I’ve spent so much time setting it up with shamelessly pirated legally purchased software and getting it to the point where I can even write an article that I’ve cut it WAY too close to deadline time. So what better way to deal with the situation that to just talk some smack. Like those worthless Social Studies classes we all had to take in high school, it’s time for CURRENT EVENTS YOU GUYS!

Well, Thor: The Mighty Thor just wrapped up its first six-issue arc and gosh darn it, what an incredible half-year of comics from Mr. Matt Fraction and Msr. Olivier Coipel! I was all prepared to cancel the title because, really, like there will ever be a run that good again but then Sir Nuv the Wangless piped up and reminded me that Pascual Ferry was resuming his art duties. Keep in mind this is the man who once said that if your Thor art “can’t be airbrushed onto the side of a van, you’re doing it wrong.”

Moving on, X-Men: Schism sucks so far despite what you might have heard from Nuv the imbecile. Hey, I really like Jason Aaron too, but this comic is so corporate-agenda that I truly don’t care what happens in its aftermath. That said, I’ll probably be picking up Wolverine and the X-Men because I’m a huge hypocrite.

I finally finished reading Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: The Outfit and while I found it as enjoyable as The Hunter – and every bit as awesome to look at – I gotta say that I’d rather Cooke wrap it up rather than continue with it for a couple more years. Initially I was stoked about the four-book project, but after seeing his short story in The Rocketeer a couple of months back I gotta say I’m restless to see Cooke draw some action and adventure again. Well, that’s one man’s opinion so WHATEVER!

Anyway, I swore that I’d never buy another Spider-Man comic ever again because I was BORED and I’d read every Spider-Man comic I ever wanted to read for the rest of my life. But then comes the announcement that Joe Madureira is gonna draw the upcoming Avenging Spider-Man. BOOM! PULLED!

Did I already write about this in the column? I can’t remember but if I haven’t I should have.

You think you’re bad at e-mail? I wrote to Nicholas Gurewitch of the HILARIOUS Perry Bible Fellowship to congratulate him on winning an Harvey Award and basically told him how much I’d been enjoying his stuff. Last week he wrote me back and said thanks and whatnot. Where things get weird is where I sent my original e-mail almost THREE YEARS to the date before the response came. That cat must get a LOT of e-mail…

Guess what! Last week I finally decided to get rid of my four-issue set of Mark Millar’s Nemesis. Oh, it ain’t your fault Steve McNiven, it’s the crap-ass story you had to draw. Millar really caught my attention with Superman: Red Son, but it’s been all downhill since then. What are you gonna do?

Well folks, that about wraps it up. My new keyboard is taking some getting used to and I still have a LONG way to go before everything is running smoothly. Stick around though! Review 2 a Kill is gearing up for a SHOCKING EXPOSÉ on DC’s New 52 starting NEXT WEEK! Until then kill time by checking out 52 Pickup, the New 52 preview we did a while back.

OCTOBER-ER-ER-ER! BE THERE-ER-ER-ER-ER-ER! NUV SUCKS-UCKS-UCKS-UCKS!

– Ian

Counter-Facepunch!

‘Sup mooks? Nuv here with some last minute headlines… This just in: Image Comics has followed DC’s lead and gone day-and-date digital. DC just released an update for their app that makes it even radder. Meanwhile, Marvel’s still trying to not be a copycat and getting left in the digi-dust. While they’re doing it in little trickles DC’s Peter North-ing their faces! And now Image is about to join the bukake.

In other news: X-Men: Schism #5 is on sale tomorrow. If you waded through the murky waters and poor writing up above my portion quickly wash your eyes with lukewarm water. Next: ignore what you read up there. Jason Aaron’s killing it with Schism, and it all comes to a head here in the main event: Wolverine vs Cyclops. Ian smells like restraining order. We now return you to your regularly scheduled GETTHEFUCKOUTTAHERE!!

– Nuv

The best move Marvel’s made in the last few years is handing Jason Aaron the keys to the X-Mansion. Wolverine has been visceral, gritty and fun as fuck to read since Aaron’s had him tangled up in his twisted beard of terror. He’s literally been to hell and back, running into characters like his father, that little piece of shit Puck, Sabretooth, the devil himself, and recently the Red Right Hand, a group of people wronged in some (horrible) way by Logan over the course of his long life, banded together with the sole purpose of torturing him in the worst ways possible. The highlight of Aaron’s run for me though is the new character Lord Deathstrike. He’s an impossibly kick-ass, silent assassin who has an assignment interrupted by the Canucklehead’s hijinks. Check it:

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Meanwhile, Aaron’s been moving the mutants towards their own Civil War in X-Men: Schism. Armed with five superstar artists and five issues, he’s leading to a Professor X/Magneto-level falling out between Cyclops and Wolverine. The lack of bro-ness  will result in the X-Men being split down the middle and forced to choose sides. On one side, Wolverine & The X-Men. On the other (assuming he survives) Ol’ One-eye will lead the Uncanny X-Men. I’ve been picking up Schism, and I’m definitely following Aaron, his Beard and Chris “Baby Got” Bachalo onto Wolverine & The X-Men. Kieron Gillen and Carlos Pacheco will probably kill it on Uncanny as well, but hey, this whole thing’s about picking sides, and I don’t like the fence, so fuck ‘em!

Dead Family, Punisher, Chicken, Egg

The funny thing is that all of the above aren’t even the best of Jason’s Marvel output. That would be PunisherMax. In between those bar-raising Dave Johnson covers, Aaron’s been crafting, for my money, the ultimate Punisher epic. But that’s a story for a whole other day and a whole other article. For now, take my word for it and pick it up. Or don’t and miss out. Your call, shitball…

Don’t Make Me (Battle) Chase You

Joe Madureira owned my attention with a pimp-grip in the late 90s/early 2000s. He’s about to do Avenging Spider-Man, a team-up book tailored to big action and cool shit he’s really good at drawing in the same way the early issues of Superman/Batman were for Ed McGuiness. So I guess Marvel will own another $4 of Nuv-money a month. And then the final issue will never come out, Battle Chasers-style. And then Joe Madureira will laugh. And I will kick this innocent dog I’ve taken hostage. Anyone wanna chant “Battle Chasers” with me, “Attica” style?

Tears Of A Dickhead

What else? Oh! Daredevil #1, courtesy of Mark Waid and the deadly duo of Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin, rules! The story is zippy and smart and the art belongs in a museum. And #2 is just as good! I won’t say too much more. Micro-dong himself, Ian, is yelling at my house from the legally required 50 meters, that I’m “cutting his grass” because he wants to talk about his beloved Matthew Murdock. Who am I to stand between the love of a midget and a fictional character? Don’t you cry, Ian! He’s all yours! Don’t get staples in your wee pee pee, mmm‘kay? ’Nuff said and shit…

ANDI’MOUT!

– Nuv

1. Who is your favourite superhero?

Ian: Daredevil, hands down. The costume, power and sense of community. And the guilt! Maybe it’s the Catholicism, but nobody except for Batman, I would argue, has a rougher time with it. None of Matt Murdock’s girls have survived, with the exception of Elektra (who came back from the dead) and Milla (currently in a mental institution).
Nuv: Superman. Who do you think taught me to wear my undies on the outside?

2. Favourite supervillain?

Ian: Magneto. It seems like such a minor power – control over metal. But what he does with that power is absolutely devastating. And the fact that he’s such a morally ambiguous character really appeals to me. Sometimes he’s a monster, but sometimes he has a real point. He’s sort of the Malcolm X to Xavier’s Martin Luther King, as far as mutant civil rights go. I would challenge anyone to find a super villain who so fully utilizes his powers.
Nuv: Joker. That motherfucker’s crazy!

3. Favourite superhero costume?

Ian: Lady Blackhawk’s. The hat, jacket and skirt = sweet!
Nuv: Batman. If you can tell who it is in silhouette, it’s a great design. Like how Ian’s head looks like a peen, even in blackest night.

4. If you could kill one character off for good, who and why?

Ian: I’d kill off Lex Luthor. I’ve never been a Superman-reader and I think the main reason is I’ve always felt Superman lets his rogue’s gallery get away with too much. Lex Luthor should have been thrown into the sun, or frozen and shattered like glass a thousand times over.
Nuv: Aquaman. He’s fucking useless. His superpower is talking to fish. So, I guess my niece is Justice League material too then, eh? Oh. I forgot to mention: he rides a giant retard seahorse into battle. Menacing.

5. What was your favourite comic book from your youth?

Ian: Amazing Spider-Man #328 where Spidey, juiced on cosmic powers, punches the Hulk into outer space. That issue was so goddamned stupid that I still own it.
Nuv: Good choice. Mine also lisps and dresses well: Action Comics #317. ‘The Rainbow Faces of Superman.’ Just look at the cover. Je. Sus. The grade 3 me had to know what could cause this debacle. Why was our hero embarrassed about having a threesome? What could make the Man of Steel envious? Motherfucker could fly and kill dudes with his eyes! My sack of a friend Jeff beat me to the punch and bought it first. I didn’t find out what was behind this one-man pride parade until credit cards and ebay came into my life. Cause I’m a grown up, mofos.

6. Name a comic run you wish you owned but don’t.

Ian: New Avengers. I knew I should have got in on the ground level of that!
Nuv: Action Comics: The kick-ass grandpa to everything we both love about comics. 884 issues and counting…

7. What do you think is the best series running right now?

Ian: Brian Wood’s Northlanders.
Nuv: Superman: Secret Origin.

8. Name a series that you can’t stand, but that everyone else seems to love.

Ian: Frank Miller’s back-in-the-day Daredevil run.
Nuv: Hellboy. Amazing art and a great character do battle with fucking dull stories. I guess that makes the movies very faithful adaptations.

9. Art-wise, what would you get commissioned, and by who?

Ian: My dream is to have Darwyn Cooke draw Joe Strummer from The Clash.
Nuv: Jim Lee drawing me. Because I’m vain. A close second would be a tight, claustrophobic shot of Superman fighting his way out of a mob of all of his enemies, as depicted by Joe Madureira.

10. If you could choose 3 superpowers, what and why?

Ian: #1 Invisibility! There’s nothing you couldn’t accomplish if you had the ability to be invisible.  #2 Mind Control (for super obvious reasons) and #3 some crazy-harsh martial art just in case things went south.
Nuv: Funny – I wish you were invisible too. #1 Healing factor. It’s a more bad-ass, gritty version of invulnerability. Either way, you survive anything. For #2 most people would choose flight. I’d choose teleportation and cut the travel time all-together. #3 Batman’s superpower – the ability to win, no matter what.

11. Do you ever see yourself quitting comics?

Ian: No.
Nuv: Nope. Not even if Mom sells my collection again.

Put two in the air…

– The BIg Two

[Ed.Note - Do you have any questions for our dastardly duo? Leave 'em in the Comments.]

NEXT ISSUE:  TIME TRAVEL! TREACHERY! TEEN WOLF! (JUST KIDDING) ONLY 9 WILL SURVIVE!! (UH..ACTUALLY IT’S 18. ‘CAUSE THERE’S 2 OF YOU) …SHUT UP.
TUNE IN: SAME IAN-TIME, SAME NUV CHANNEL…