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By Jason Bourgeois
Yes, November has come back around, and with it come the changing leaves, the occasional snowfall, hot apple cider, and corny lists of things we're thankful for. This has been a good year for comics, in my humble opinion, so I've got quite a few things to be thankful for in the industry, so let's get right to it.
- Rob Liefeld is no longer Marvel's problem. With him doing a two issue stint over on the Titans, and more projects in the works, Rob is mostly out of my hair and...what? DC has stopped their relationship with him, and Marvel has rehired him? Well, scratch that. Crap.
- Crossovers. Stop laughing. While my wallet hates them, I do like the sense of continuity, larger picture, and a cohesive universe that big smash 'em up crossovers can bring with them. In principal, they're good, but let's not go overboard guys, ok? Just more continuity between titles would be good, really. And while one crossover isn't so good, House of M, another is knocking my socks off, and I am absolutely loving Infinite Crisis so far.
- Legion of Super-Heroes. While it's taken me awhile to warm up to this unneccesary reboot, I do love what Mark Waid and Barry Kitson are doing, since they're bringing to us one high-quality comic that has some of the best writing out there these days that is going completely unnoticed.
- "No More Mutants". With House of M being a pacing nightmare, it at least seems to be serving a purpose, even if everything we went to, to get us there, was largley unneeded. With three little words, Wanda Maximoff has changed the face of the Marvel Universe. Marvel has decided to reduce the number of mutant superheroes to a mere 200 or so. And while it may not last, I certainly welcome the attempt. Mutants are way too common, lessening the specialness of the X-Men and their related titles, and "Well, uh...he's a mutant!" became pretty much lazy writer shorthand for an origin, since it required no real thought or work behind it, and was a cheap way to cash on other mutants' popularity. And made it way to easy to just have Wolverine pop in for a guest appearance. I really hope that for once, Marvel is sincere with sticking with an edict, and mutants are given a chance to be special again. The other bonus of this, is that everyone's favourite characters still exist, and available to come back at anytime, without any contrived ressurections.
- Phoenix: Endsong. Because damn, it was pretty. And surprisingly well-written for a miniseries. And was really pretty.
- Oracle regaining the use of her legs. Well, sorta. She can wiggle her toes. With comicbook science, these things certainly out of the realm of possibility, and even in modern science, it's starting to happen. Christopher Reeves had regained very limited feeling in his extremities, and Babs' recovery is a bit of an homage to the former Superman actor. While I still have trepidations over where the storyline will eventually go, I like that they don't feel afraid to change things up a bit, and there is this part of me that longs to see Barbara back in the cape and cowl, as unlikely as that may be.
- Peter David continues to work in comics. Fallen Angel, cancelled from the DC lineup, was picked up by IDW and returns in December, X-Factor also returns in December, continuing the adventures of Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, and PAD just started work on the newest Spider-Man title, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. PAD is an amazing talent, with a good balance of seriousness and humour to his work, while crafting clever, intricate tales that often bear multiple readings just to see all the clues once you've finished a story. He also wrote a Spike one-shot this year, which brings us to . . .
- The Buffyverse lives on...in comic form! Granted, Serenity was pretty bland - the comics, not the movie, the movie rocked - but the Buffy comics coming out right now have been decent, especially PAD's one-shot. Angel: The Curse continued the truncated adventures of everyone's favourite vampire with a soul, after the cancellation of his series, and they will continue one with yet another miniseries featuring him, and even Spike gets more comics, so the snark lives on.
- The return of the Marvel Handbooks. Ok, so this actually happened last year. But this year, they stepped up the production, putting out two handbooks, or handbook-like projects in a month, several times during the last year, as well as several of the themed issues being very creative. The Alternate Universes handbook was a stroke of genius, giving a glimpse into the rich tapestry of multiple earths that hasn't been touched by any kind of crisis yet, as well as the Horror Handbook, among others. With no official handbook with any real information since 1989, it was long past time to get some sort of guide book to the vastly expanded Marvel Universe we have today, and the tradition will continue next year with a concise 12 part A-Z compilation next year, and expanding each issue to 64 pages each, giving plenty of room for the lesser known characters, and the big stars who have yet to be featured.
- The return of She-Hulk. Yes, anyone who knows me should've seen this coming. I've been stumping for this book since I got into it, a little late in the game, with issue six of the last run, thanks to my friend Scott. It is easily one of the best books Marvel is putting out, playing in its rich history, poking fun at comic cliches, and fans alike, and generally taking the piss out of everyone. With it's triumphant return, I can only continue to push the title, and pray it last a good, long run. If any comic deserves your patronage, this book is it.
And thus, my highlights for 2005 wrap up, and next month brings the Christmas season, and bucketloads of snow. I'll see everyone in a month, when I dig myself out of the drifts and hand in my next column.
Jason M. Bourgeois
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