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The Unreachable Star's 2006 Year In Review!As it's the last week of the year, it's for some reason traditional to look both ahead and forward, to reflect on what the last year has brought us, and what the new year might hold. In my case, it's an excuse to talk about my favorites of the year, and rant about my disappointments one last time. So, without further ado... Of 2006:Favorite Comic Book: For the second year in a row, I have to go with Runaways Favorite Core X-Book: I've dropped most of my core X-books this year, so once again it's down to Astonishing X-Men Favorite Satellite X-Book: The contenders here seem to be Cable & Deadpool, and X-Factor. The clear winner here though is X-Factor, which is actually in contention for one of my favorite books overall. Favorite Comic Miniseries: Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways at least had two things going for it: It contained the Runaways and the Young Avengers. On the downside, it involved Civil War. I also could nominate Civil War itself, but it contained even more Civil War than Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways, and much less Runaways. So, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways takes the category. Really, I read few satisfying minis this year. The Decimation aftermath minis all left a bad taste in my mouth, and while Ultimate Extinction started okay, it fizzled out too much by the ending. Favorite Comic TPB: Y: The Last Man, Vol 6. Favorite Comic Artist: There are always a number of good choices in this category, as well as a few regular nominees like Brian Hitch, Adrian Alphona, and Jim Cheung. But as it's been announced that Adrian Alphona's leaving Runaways, I've really come to appreciate him even more and I'm regretting his departure almost as much as the writer. So, Adrian Alphona wins this year. Favorite Female Comic Character: Well, last year's winner, Cassandra Cain, is completely out of the running this year on account of DC ruining her beyond any recognition. This year I think it's all about Gert Yorkes from Runaways. Though Kitty Pryde is always a strong contender. Favorite Male Comic Character: Chase won last year, and he wins again. He's a funny character with a dark side, and one of the few characters I love that I'd be comfortable with dying or going evil (so long as it's done well), just because of everything he's been through. Favorite Comics Creator: Brian K. Vaughan for the 3rd year running. Runaways, and Y: The Last Man are consistently good reads. I realize this year in review is starting to sound like a Runaways/Vaughan lovefest. But then again, next year, most of the categories it won this year will be going through some significant changes and may not qualify for, so get while the getting's goo. Best New Comic: X-Factor technically got started in the last month of 2005, but I think I'm going to give it to them regardless, they earned it. A string of minor characters that fit together well and rarely fail to entertain. Hell, he's even made Layla Miller enjoyable. Most Underrated Comic: Runaways Most Overrated Comic: Civil War. It had a decent core concept and they've built up some cool moments, but it's made me like the Marvel Universe much less. Best Comic Arc: Runaways, "Parental Guidance". An arc promising, and delivering, the death of a main character, as well as some surprises along the way. Worst Comic Arc: Robin's One Year Later arc. An arc devoted to turning a former hero evil, and doing so in a way that suggested the writer never read anything beyond a basic summary of the previous character's history. Biggest Comic Surprise: The announcement that Joss Whedon would be taking over Runaways after the departure of Brian K. Vaughan wins. I literally thought, 'Whedon would be great and everyone's going to get excited speculating about him, but there's just no way'. And then it was. Biggest Comic Disappointment: There are two big contenders here. One of them is Civil War. The other is DC, One Year Later. Civil War's not done yet, but already it's showed Marvel's utter lack of planning or consistency - not merely with its past, but with its present. The registration act isn't consistent from book to book, and there are huge sections of the plot that make me want to bang my head at the illogic of it all. On the other hand, DC One Year Later took what was a potentially interesting way to bring lots of status quo changes, and wound up making me drop all but two DC books. Particularly galling was the treatment of Cassandra Cain, which not only ignored the ending of her series, but key details of her characters. Because Civil War, so far, hasn't caused me to drop books I already enjoy, I have to give this category to DC's One Year Later. Favorite Theatrical Genre Release: The only new movie this year I saw was X-Men 3 Favorite SF Book(s): I read a lot of old books, but I try to leave the category open for new books. However, books I consider 'new' might have been released even a year or two ago.
The main categories here are: Ilium, by Dan Simmons, Olympos by Dan Simmons, The Protector's War by S.M. Stirling, and the last few Dark Tower Favorite Genre DVD: I also didn't get any new DVDs this year (save for X-mas, where I got X-Men 3). So again, by default, X-Men 3 Favorite Outgoing SF Series: Although it technically hasn't left the air yet, it's been announcted that Stargate: SG1 will be ending in May. So, that's my vote. It's been 10 years, and one of the few SF shows that had SF content that you could follow along with and predict complications. It remembered its own past and put it to good use, and had relatively consistent quality the whole way through, despite major cast changes. Here's to you, Stargate. Favorite Returning SF Series: Last year's winner, Lost, has already faltered badly, so it's out of the running. This year, I think the winner has to be Battlestar Galactica, which regularly provides drama and strong character work, as well as some thought provoking ideas. Favorite New SF Series: Heroes. It started a little weak, but it got better, and has had good cliffhangers, and what's more, it's popular enough that I have faith it'll be around a while. Favorite Male TV/Movie Character: Hiro from Heroes. The geek in all of us, with the power to bend time and space. Favorite Female TV/Movie Character: I think Sharon from Battlestar Galactica wins, as she's one of the few characters in the series I actually root for. Honorable mention goes to Claire from Heroes - her introduction is one of my favorite for a superhero character ever. For 2007:What I'm looking forward to:In Comics: Joss Whedon taking over the writing on Runaways. In Books: Rainbow's End, by Vernor Vinge to come out in paperback. Also, Blindsight by Peter Watts in paperback as well. He put the whole thing online under a creative commons license, and reading the first chapter was enough to make me consider picking it up. In Movies: Spider-Man 3, I suppose. Really though, there's nothing on the horizon I'm really excited about. Oh, maybe Jumper, if it comes out in 2007. I really enjoyed the book. In TV: The return of Heroes. What I'm dreading:In Comics: The ending of Civil War. Let's hope it doesn't reduce my Marvel lists even more. In Books: Nothing really. In Movies: Spider-Man 3, again. Or Jumper if they screw it all up as is quite possible. In TV: Once again, the month of May, where I always have to face the fear that one
of the shows I've grown attached to isn't coming back. There's also a Prisoner remake looming that sounds horrible, but I think it's not due till 2008.
Well, that's it for my picks. If you're at all interested, here's what I thought of 2005. Please, join our forums and discuss your own picks for the best and worst of the year here.
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. It's consistently a
lot of fun, and almost every single issue makes me laugh at least once, and I've become really attached to the characters..
