As 2011 comes to a close, it’s safe to say that it has been a banner year for the comics industry and fans alike. Here at Comic Booked, we have always taken our comics pretty seriously, and after a stellar year of new material, we are pleased to present you with our awards for Best of 2011! For this year’s awards we asked each of our team members for their input and nominations to see who they thought were the best of the best in the comic book industry over the past year! After a few weeks of careful thought, consideration and deliberation, we’ve selected these titles as our choices for the best that 2011 had to offer!
Generally, comic books exist for entertainment purposes, and what better way to entertain than to catch the reader off guard? Even if didn’t happen in a specific title, the comics industry has been full of shocking moments all throughout this past year. Here we’re going to talk about our favorite surprises from 2011 with our nominees for Most Shocking Moment!
- DC announces The New 52. I don’t think any of us were even remotely expecting anything like this from DC. I mean, every once in a while a comic company reboots a series or two with a new creative direction and team, but to completely reboot an entire universe? That was a bold move on DC’s part and considering all the immediate reaction and uproar from fans that nearly broke the internet, it was the definitive ‘shocking moment’ of 2011 for me. – Jordamus Prime
- The end of Flashpoint. The end of a timeline is always shocking – James Halstead
- Barbara Gordon gets her legs back. I think the fact that no one saw this coming even out of a reboot. It would have been easier just to erase it from history, but they took a risk making it part of the reboot and so far it is paying off.- Jason Padua
- DC reboots Action and Detective Comics. In it’s commitment to The New 52, DC offers new #1’s of the longest running ongoing comics series ever, with runs going back to the 1930’s. Action having just celebrated it’s 900th issue four months before, and Detective just a few issues shy of #900 – The Exile
- The Walking Dead #83: Carl gets shot in the head during a zombie attack. This double page panel stuck with me for a long time and reminded me that in this series being a main character doesn’t mean anything.- Skott of Fables
- Kick-Ass 2 #4. Do I really need to say more? Even for Kick-Ass, a book that once touted itself as containing “Sickening violence – just the way you like it!” this was out of left field.- Nick C
- The Harley Quinn reboot. I love you DC, but please give me back my favorite character! – Nicole Sixx
- Death of Hellboy, Hellboy ‘The Fury’ #3 prelude to Hellboy Goes to Hell! They didn’t spoil it, and I was SHOCKED! Re-read it and you see the most subtle foreshadowing. Literary and mythology references that just blow my mind that they could be included in a comic. Dark Horse has been super-cool to us, Mignola is the man, and I SINCERELY think that they earned this one.- Robb Orr
- Buffy destroying all magic at the conclusion of BtvS Season 8. Considering that magic has been a part of the Buffyverse since Season One, this was a shocking move that will have repercussions well into the future of the franchise!- Robert LeMoyne
- Killing Ultimate Spider-man. It’s just something I never thought anybody would have the guts to do, kill someone like Spider-man for good (hopefully; so far anyone who has died in the ultimate world has stayed dead). Even if it was only the ultimate version, he’s still an icon.- Jeremy Boreske
- It’s hard to be shocked by anything what with companies leaking their shockers to mainstream media all the time but I’d have to say Schism was the most shocking. The split between Wolverine and Cyclops was something that I never expected to happen in comics. The two characters were always the most devout X-Men around. And with the way Wolverine left, deciding that Cyclops’ choosing the path of violence was wrong, was definitely out of left field.- Michael Wirth
- Infinite Vacation #3 by Nick Spencer and Christian Ward. The dimension hopping villain sodomises and then eats his alternate self. Squick. -Emmet O’Cuana
Winner, Comic Booked‘s Most Shocking Moment of 2011-
The New 52
Congratulations to DC Comics and The New 52 for being Comic Booked’s Most Shocking Moment of 2011! A special congratulations also goes out to all of the other nominees for being some of the best titles available this year!
