Best of 2014 Listener Input

One web comic I'd add to consideration is Grrl Power 
Pretty cheesecake at times, but the author hangs a lantern on it and the primary character has very normal proportions.

Ok, here is my list!


Best Overall Comic - Ms Marvel

Best Ongoing Series - Saga

Best Writer - Brian K Vaughan

Best Artist - Fiona Staples

Best New Series - Ms Marvel/ Gotham Academy

Best Story Arc - Pretty Deadly Vol. 1/ Southern Bastards - Here was a man./ Ms Marvel No Normal

Best Graphic Novel - The Giant Beard That Was Evil

Best Single Issue - Spider Gwen/ Southern Bastards #4

Best Breakthrough Writer - G. Willow Wilson

Best Breakthrough Artist - Babs Tarr

Best Cover - Ms Marvel #5/ Pretty Deadly #2

Best Web Comic - JL8
limbero.org/jl8/1

Best Publisher
image

Honourable mentions:
Breakthrough Artists: Karl Kershl (Gotham Academy)
                                Robbi Rodriguez (Spider Gwen)

Breakthrough Writers: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher (Gotham Academy)
                                 Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher (Batgirl)
                                 Jason Lateur (Spider Gwen)

Best Graphic Novel: Through the Woods

best web comics: Girls with Slingshots & Last Halloween

oh, I owe you bigtime for recommending it to me.  I flew through the whole thing in less than two days.  It's beyond adorable, and he really gets the core of the characters spot-on, and highlights their relationships to each other brilliantly.

I couldn't agree more.  And the ability to make me swing from uncontrollable guffaw to unabashed tears is incredible; it really runs the gamut so very beautifully.  I wish so badly that DC'd cut a deal with Yale Stewart, put out physical copy collections, make it cheap (let's say $10 or less per volume), and put it in every drugstore, bookstore, airport/hotel giftshop, and supermarket checkout stand in the country; this is the sort of thing that needs to be in the hands of every kid, like, right now, no excuses.  It's like the perfect anti-New52; it understands what we all love about the DC characters in a way that Dan Didio seems to completely miss.  Again, I can't thank you enough for recommending it; it's pretty much the best thing ever.

Before I share my list I have to say that this was a tough year! A lot of amazing books and creators, and if I sat down to write this list again I could easily come up with completely different answers. I'm sure to have forgotten someone or something but this is what I've got.
Love to hear your thoughts!
Matt

Best Overall Comic
Afterlife With Archie (It’s original, creative and downright scary)
Southern Bastards (The one book I’ll be sharing with everyone this Christmas, amazing)
Sex Criminals (Describe this book to me a year ago, I’d have looked at you funny and given you a wide berth. Now? I can’t imagine my pull list without it)

Best Ongoing Series
Batman (Consistently amazing)
Daredevil (How this book is so good every month is beyond me)
Saga (Redefines what comic books can achieve)

Best Writer
Joshua Williamson (Birthright, Nailbiter, Ghosted – the guy’s had a great year!)
Charles Soule (Hardest working man in comics has also had a very good year)
Rick Remender (Controversial I know, but Axis aside I personally loved the craziness of Uncanny Avengers, plus Deadly Class and Black Science are consistently brilliant)

Best Artist
Wes Craig (Deadly Class)
Adrian Alphona (Ms Marvel)
Declan Shalvey (Moon Knight)
Fiona Staples (Saga) (Consistency should be rewarded!)
Chris Samnee (Daredevil) (See above!)

Best New Series
Deadly Class (Blew me away from the very start)
Cyclops (Making Scott Summers fun!!)
Birthright (My Pick of the Week every time it comes out)
Southern Bastards (Again, amazing)

Best Story Arc
Avengers: Infinite Avengers (AKA Time Gem Shenanigans!)
Southern Bastards: Here Was A Man (Brutal and heartbreaking)
Deadly Class: Reagan Youth (Took me on a journey I’m still recovering from!)
Amazing X-Men: The Quest For Nightcrawler (Could have been awful but handled almost perfectly, and moving too!)

Best Mini-Series
Edge of Spider-Verse (Almost purely for SpiderGwen!!)
Translucid (a fascinating deconstruction of the hero/villain relationship)
The Multiversity (Shaping up to be Seminal)

Best Graphic Novel
Seconds (A brilliantly endearing follow-up to Scott Pilgrim)
Genesis (Allison Sampson's ethereal artwork is simply beautiful)
Does 'Just the Tips' count?? My head says no but...IT'S SO FUNNY YOU GUYS.

Best One Shot/Single Issue
Afterlife With Archie #6 (How can it be anything else??)
Quantum and Woody: Goat #0 (Single funniest thing I’ve read in a long time)
The Multiversity: Pax Americana (Mind. Completely. Blown)

Best Breakthrough Writer
Joshua Williamson
Charles Soule
Brendan Fletcher

Best Breakthrough Artist
Russel Dauterman (Cyclops, Thor, both amazing)
Babs Tarr (C’mon. Batgirl is truly ace)
Declan Shalvey (Two Words. Moon. Knight)

Best Cover
For sheer ‘Icon Factor’ it has to be Cameron Stewart’s cover to Batgirl #35. That’s the cover that people will remember 2014 for.
Edge of Spider-Verse #2 – the cover that launched a thousand Tumblr posts (more like a hundred thousand!)

Best Web/Digital Comic
Blackhand Comics by Wes Craig

Best Publisher
Image - for sheer volume of amazing new titles with such a wealth of talent and creativity on display. A publisher that truly caters for every taste.

And that's my list - this was challenging but so much fun to put together!
Take Care,
Matt

I'm really looking forward to listening to the discussion on the podcast, it's been a great year for comics!

Best Overall Comic: Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks and Caanan White (brings attention to important story, and great art too). 

Best Ongoing Series: Lazarus (great world-building, growing plot and stakes, consistent art).

Best Writer: Greg Rucka (Lazarus, Stumptown, Cyclops, Veil)

Best Artist: Fiona Staples (Saga)

Best New Series: Outcast (Robert Kirkman and Paul Azceta) with Southern Bastards close behind (Jason Aaron and Jason Latour)

Best Story Arc: The Fuse, The Russia Shift, issues 1-6 (Antony Johnston and Justin Greenwood)

Best Mini-Series: The Wake (Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy)

Best Graphic Novel: Besides Harlem Hellfighters, I'd go with Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 2 (Ed Piskor)

Best One-shot/single issue: Multiversity- Pax Americana

Best Breakthrough Writer: Antony Johnston (Umbral, The Fuse, Wasteland) or G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel)

Best Breakthrough Artist: Caanan White (Uber, Harlem Hellfighters)

Best Cover: Batgirl #35

Best Web/Digital comic: The Private Eye (Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin), or Sensation Comics (various)

Best Publisher: Image