DC's Best & Worst of 2010!

Best Moments

New Krypton destroyed (War of the Supermen #3) (heartfelt with the outstanding rush of the story, but better yet, this moment ended an otherwise disappointing arc)

Mention:
Joker’s reveal as Oberon Sexton (Batman & Robin #13) (many though it was Bruce Wayne…among others..)
Parallax consumes Hal Jordan to battle Black Lantern Spectre (Green Lantern #50) (there could be several other G.L. moments, such as Hal turning White Lantern, the New Guardians combining forces for the greater good, etc.)

Worst…
Death of Lian Harper (JLA: Cry for Justice #7) (to say "poorly handled" would be a compliment)

Mention:
Anything else involving JLA: Cry For Justice (Arsenal’s impotence, or swinging a dead cat for protection, Ollie claiming threesome with Huntress & Lady Blackhawk, etc. etc. etc.)


Best Anthology

Brightest Day by Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi (while a tad inconsistent spreading out the stories, the series proves ongoing by Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and others would be a delight)


Best New Series

Zatanna by Paul Dini (I’m “trade-waiting” this series, but going by reviews and word of mouth, there’s no doubt I’m going to love it)

Mention:
Batman Inc. by Grant Morrison (sure, we’re only on issue #2 as we close 2010, but I didn’t bother to pick up any “new” series—meaning not revamped—otherwise. And so far this international exploration for new Batmen meets 3 a.m. monster cinema is kicking behind!)

Worst...

Azrael by Fabian Nicieza & David Hine (sure, it all began late in 2009, but has any other series completely become irrelevant in the grand scope of the DCU?)


Best Mini-Series

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison (fairly obvious choice, don’t you think?)

Mention:

Justice League: Generation Lost by Judd Winick & Aaron Lopresti (hearing great things about this “maxi” but trade-waiting myself)

Worst...

JLA: Cry For Justice by James Robinson & Mauro Cascioli (don’t let the nifty painted stills fool you, this is simply how NOT to write a comic)


Best Series Revamp

Action Comics by Paul Cornell & Pete Woods (completely saved the Superman Universe)

Mention:
The Flash by Geoff Johns & Francis Manapul (close call between the two but I figure the more Johns incorporates the whole CSI-side of Allen the better)

Worst...

Titans by Eric Wallace & Fabriio Fiorentino (you figured a Deathstroke led Thunderbolts-esque team would do wonders…)

Mention:
Green Lantern Corps by Tony Bedard (when Tomasi & Gleason were on this title, it was arguably even better than the main title)
Superman by J.M.S. & Eddy Barrows (Superman walking around talking to people on the street; yup, as exciting as it sounds)
Wonder Woman by J.M.S. & Don Kramer (I actually LIKE the new costume, but that’s about it)


Best Single Issue

TIE: Batman & Robin #13 by Grant Morrison & Frazer Irving (IGN.com anointed this issue with nearly every award they offer, and for a reason)

Birds of Prey #1 by Gail Simone (too bad the series couldn’t keep up to such an amazingly classic premise)

Mention:
Brightest Day #0 by Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi (set the table for another 52; that bi-weekly anthology is my favorite thing DC ever put out)

Worst...

JLA: Cry For Justice #7 by James Robinson & Mauro Cascioli (no one puts it better: http://comics.ign.com/articles/107/1074182p1.html)

Mention:
Why mention anything else?


Best Artist

Doug Mahnke for Green Lantern (he was lucky JH Williams III took some time off following Detective, but the Blackest Night artist went on to draw nothing but epically detailed sci-fi work and splash pages; countless pinups, that’s for sure)

Mention:
Francis Manapul on The Flash (picked up right where he left on with Adventure Comics)
Anyone on Batman & Robin (no matter who—Cameron Stewart, Andy Clarke, Frazier Irving—this book has looked amazing as the writing paired with it)

Worst...

Scott McDaniel for Detective Comics, Batman & Robin (I know he has his fans but a lot of this looks like childish scribbling…following such epic artists like Williams, Quietly, Irving, etc. doesn’t help)


Best Writer

Grant Morrison for Batman & Robin, The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman #700, Batman Inc. (simply, masterful)

Worst...

James Robinson for everything. From the creator of Starman, one of the greatest epic runs in comic history, comes a 2010—and other such preceding years—full of crap. His current JLA run may go down as the worst of all time; even a reboot with Mark Bagley has done NOTHING to rejuvenate the series. Perhaps his newfound reputation is following him like a bad shadow. But geesh, just look at his Superman, or just about anything else he’s touched lately. Time for a change, my man.


Best Series of the Year

Batman & Robin by Grant Morrison (rebounded from the Philip Tan-sketched, too dark Red Hood arc to generate some of the best—and especially fun!—Bat stories ever told)

Mention:
Green Lantern by Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke (tough to call this series “quiet” isn’t it? Yet, nearly always good)
Batman by Tony Daniel (another series that went under the radar, Daniel’s double dose of work and take on Dick Grayson might be the best one yet…never a dull moment)
Secret Six by Gail Simone & Nicola Scott (no surprise here)

Worst...

Justice League of America by Jeff Robinson & Mark Bagley (now that Bagley’s back on Ultimate Spidey, will DC finally make a change to one of its oldest & most successful titles? Please?)

Mention:
Outsiders by Dan Didio (forgot this series even existed, and the man who runs the show pens it)
Justice Society of America by Bill Willingham (not even the famed Fables auteur could save this…now Guggenheim’s on the mantle: good luck)

The Green Lantern franchise continues to be amazing
The end of Blackest Night was pretty awesome as well.
2010 for me was the year of the Bat and a lot of the Bat-books were outstanding. Especially Batman and Robin and Red Robin

James Robinson's Cry for Justice and his current run on JLA
JMS leaving both Wonder Woman and Superman during the middle of his story.

I agree that everything Jame Robinson wrote was crap. Justice League: Cry For Justice was a travasty, and his JLA is horrible. What he did to Roy and Lian is unforgivable.

My favorite book is hands down Red Robin. It doesn't get any better than that for me. Batgirl is a close second, and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors is third.

Green Lantern continued to be solid, and The Flash despite not being as good as I was hoping, was still really good.

I'm enjoying Krul's run on Teen Titans so far. It isn't amazing, but it is the best TT stuff since Johns left.

Despite not being a Morrison fan Batman, Inc. has been great.

Justice League: Generation Lost has also been awesome. Winick also kicked ass with Red Hood: Lost Days. No one writes Jason Todd as well as Winick IMO.

I was really disappointed with Batman Beyond. I am a HUGE fan of the show, and despite the book starting out good it kind of fell apart and had a really generic ending.

this post didn't garner as much as a response as the Marvel one....any reason why?

I'd like to see what other people thought about DC's year...i guess people are just OVER 2010

Honestly, I just can't remember it all.

A nod for best moment would be when Catman snapped after his son was kidnapped. His killing spree is a good reminder that the Secret Six are NOT heroes and that it is very much a book about villains.

Best writer would go out to Johns and Tomasi. These two have just been a delight to read month after month.

Indeed. Looking forward to Tomasi & Gleason on Batman & Robin.

I'd agree that Red Hood: Lost Days is a contender for best mini-series. It was a great insight to Jason's past. I still remember that one panel of Jason sitting on the bed staring at the picture of Batman and "the new Robin". It really makes you feel for the character

Gotham city sirens really started to fall short in my eyes.. which hurts

BUT

Justice League Generation Lost was a nice surprise

yeah GCS is a huge disappointment, but I'd have to say a majority of the issues were too decent at the beginning of last year to throw them in the category

LOOSECANNON wrote:yeah GCS is a huge disappointment, but I'd have to say a majority of the issues were too decent at the beginning of last year to throw them in the category

I thought the last issue with Zatanna trying to mindwipe Catwoman was pretty good

Spazzy wrote:

But, she got better

LordD3r3k wrote:

Spazzy wrote:

But, she got better

This is the argument I had with the writer.. Yes he contacted me.. Its been done.. plus when much better writers state they would never have Zee do mind wipes again... It feels like they are beating a dead horse. And I dont like it.

Spazzy wrote:
This is the argument I had with the writer.. Yes he contacted me.. Its been done.. plus when much better writers state they would never have Zee do mind wipes again... It feels like they are beating a dead horse. And I dont like it.

Gotcha. I don't remember anyone coming out and saying she wouldn't do it again, so looking at the issue on its own, I thought it was decent enough

each their own

2010 was not DC's best year.

Best stuff came from their Vertigo imprint.

True