Before getting into the meat and potatoes of this I’d like to make one thing clear. The only comics I see on a regular basis are the ones I buy so if my list of the best of 2004 seems limited it is. So since I buy mainly super hero books what follows, after a brief overview of some trends and happenings is what I feel were the best super hero series of the year out of the ones that I purchase. So please keep that in mind while reading and if any of you regular PCS visitors wondered why my reviews seemed limited to a core of the same books, now you know why and if any of you publishers (this means you DC, Image, Dark Horse, etc.) would like your books reviewed by this site I’m ready and able to review any books that come my way. Now on to what I liked (and didn’t) in 2004.

DC learned a valuable lesson from the 12 issue Batman Hush series and that was if Jim Lee draws it they (the buying public) will come. So this year Lee was the artist for the main Superman title and lo and behold he drew it and they came. DC also learned raping and killing secondary characters sold quite well, too and cashed in big with “Identity Crisis” which had a lot to recommend it right up until the final issue wherein it gave in to all its worse impulses and implications. In my book “Green Lantern Rebirth” is well on its way to surpassing IC as the mini series of the year.

The Batman books were involved in the huge “War Games” crossover that was very near to pointless even for a crossover. The Bat-books actually were on a bit of a crossover roll having experienced varying degrees of success with “No Man’s Land,” “Officer Down,” and “Bruce Wayne: Murder/Fugitive.” “War Games” broke the streak by stemming from a concept that was never big or ambitious enough for a twenty some part story scanning eight titles. Almost as a reflection on the futility of the crossover is the fact that two of the main Batman books currently are featuring major stories that are pre-War games.

Over at Marvel three mainstays were given some rough treatment. Bruce Jones began his run on the Hulk with an “X-Files” meets “the Fugitive” riff that captivated many for a quite awhile. While a great deal of the readers lost patience when revelations were oh so slow in coming no one would have guessed that Jones would bring it all to a climax with the most conventional of endings. To make matters worse he followed that with a four part Hulk/Thing series that was beyond pointless.

Also on the receiving end of some rough treatment was Thor. Dan Jurgens left the book after delivering a great deal of thought provoking stories, slow moving but thought provoking nonetheless. He was followed by “Powers” artist Michael Avon Oeming who took a hatchet to the Thunder God and Asgard with an end of time saga that amazingly managed to slaughter everyone near and dear to Thor and the readers in a meaningless and surprisingly emotionless fashion. After the initial carnage some interesting ideas and concepts were introduced only to be undermined by having Thor bring about the end of the Norse Gods by literally breaking a thread.

And then there was the Amazing Spider-Man. Writer J. Michael Straczynski had built up enough credibility so that he was given the benefit of the doubt when he started messing with the most sacred of all Spidey icons, Gwen Stacy. Given enough rope he proceeded to hang himself by having the whole thing revolve around virginal Gwen giving Norman Osborn a mercy roll in the hay thereby besmirching a legend and offering up another Goblin story when we had reached the over saturation point on that a few years ago. Ugh!

Enough with the disappointments and on to the triumphs; listed below, in alphabetical order are my favorite series of 2004.

ASTONISHING X-MEN
click here for all reviews

Boy, Marvel sure picked an appropriate adjective for this book. Rarely has a superstar creative team delivered in such a spectacular fashion as Joss Whedon and John Cassaday have done here. The art is dazzling and the writing is witty and sharp as a razor. Whedon’s love and respect for the characters shines through and there really hasn’t been a false step in any of the nine issues.

BIRDS OF PREY
click here for all reviews

Speaking of sharp and witty writing, it’s in large supply on this delightful book. Gail Simone has ramped up the girl power here without being preachy or obvious. The plots have been intriguing and Simone really has a way with each of the three main leads. Her infusion of Huntress as a permanent member of the group was a masterstroke. I don’t think anyone has written Huntress better and certainly no one is writing a super book consistently better than this right now. Initially the art by Ed Benes was a concern as he leans towards the cheesecake but the art turned out to be one of the many strengths of the book and the series suffers when all too frequently there’s a fill in artist.

CONAN
click here for all reviews

When word came that Dark Horse Comics was bringing Robert E. Howard’s bound for greatness barbarian back to monthly comics it was hard to imagine duplicating the success of the classic Marvel Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/John Buscema series. Well guess what? They’re well on their way to doing just that. Kurt Busiek has stayed so true to REH’s vision that at times he seems to be channeling him and artist Cary Nord has brought a new vision of Conan that makes it seem that just like Windsor Smith, this was a character he was born to draw.

DAREDEVIL
click here for all reviews

It’s hard to think of any major super hero book that’s been this good for this long. When it comes to Daredevil there was Frank Miller and now there’s Bendis and Maleev. Their time on this series is the equivalent to an epic novel or an opera. They’ve really been working on one big story as each arc builds on what’s come before and influences what lies ahead. I know the leisurely pacing is infuriating to some but its all part of one large tapestry, a tapestry being worked on by master craftsmen at the top of their game. Rarely have Matt Murdock, the Kingpin, Foggy Nelson and Ben Urich been so richly explored and portrayed. More of a character study and noir crime drama than a super hero book that thanks to Maleev is all dark and moody and thanks to Bendis is much more than that.

POWERS
click here for all reviews

Bendis strikes again. What can you say? This super heroes meet police drama with the focus on the police is where he lets it all hang out and we get to enjoy the fruits of his freedom. It’s rare in an ongoing series that a reader can be gripped by the feeling that almost anything can happen at anytime. Well it can and it does here and best of all you know it won’t be undone in the very near future. Oeming is absolved of his sins writing Thor on the basis of his great work here. You wouldn’t think his stylized art would be right for such a frequently violent and gritty book but it works beautifully.

SHE-HULK
click here for all reviews

The surprise of the year this book is simply a pleasure. Dan Slott has made super heroes fun again. He’s dispensed with the navel gazing and the decompressed story telling and dropped just enough of the real world into the realm of super heroes to spark some wonderful stories. Best of all he’s done so not with a smirk but with a twinkle in his eye. Often the stories are hilarious but not at the expense of the characters or even the concept of super heroes. Since the alter ego of our heroine is a lawyer things center around a law firm specializing in cases involving costumed heroes. The cases are imaginative and thought provoking but not in the hard edge way of Daredevil or Powers. Slott is also respectful of his title character and her development and under his auspices She-Hulk has never had it so good. She definitely is emerging as one of the most appealing characters in the Marvel Universe.

SUPREME POWER
click here for all reviews

Whatever crimes J. Michael Straczynski has committed on Amazing Spider-Man he more than makes up for them with this book. What seemed to be a lame idea at first, an update of something better left alone, Supreme Squadron, has blossomed into a compelling book. Whereas Mark Millar’s “Red Son” imagined what would happen if Superman’s capsule crashed in the Soviet Union instead of Smallville this series imagines what would have happened if he was raised by the U.S. government and not the Kents. JMS hasn’t even got the major characters together yet but this is one series that benefits greatly from a slow pace as each part has been carefully written and lavishly drawn by Gary Frank and is to be savored as it unfolds. JMS has taken care to flesh out each “hero” to the point where we know this is going to be a volatile mix whenever he gets them together. He also takes full advantage of the freedom of the MAX imprint without going overboard like Mark Millar in “Wanted.”

ULTRA
click here for all reviews

What exactly is this book: a super hero book, a romance book, a satire of popular culture, a caustic look at being a celebrity, a tome on today’s modern woman? Well it’s all of that wrapped up in a thoroughly enjoyable package and brought to us by the hereto unknown Luna Brothers. This book can be read on many levels and as such new treasures can be unearthed on subsequent readings. Pearl, the Ultra in the title, is the best new female character in comics since Jessica Jones, although she’s her polar opposite. The concept of an agency of super heroes like a talent or modeling agency is a good one whose potential is barely tapped here. I don’t know what Image or the Luna Brothers have planned but I’d sure like to see this continue well beyond the eight issues initially planned.