JLA Avengers, long awaited, and needing a sequel!
Now the New Year is nigh upon us and the Noughties are finally drawing to a close, I got to wondering what the highlights of the past decade have been for me in the comics world.
The decade was ushered in with what remains to me to be one of the greatest JLA stories of all time: World War III by Grant Morrison, and the coming of Mageddon, a weapon left over from the time of the Old Gods. I always regretted that we never saw Morrisson’s creation of Wonderworld again, even if it had been destroyed by the beast.
Of course the geekfest of the decade has to have been the 2004 JLA Avengers, drawn by the ever talented George Perez. This gave everything that one can demand from such a team-up, good characterisation, a virtual tour of both teams massive histories, cameos by everybody who was anybody, and a lasting effect on continuity. Well, on DC’s side of the fence at least. After all, where would Kurt Busiek’s excellent Trinity have been without Krona’s Cosmic Egg?
Trinity has to have been the best of all the weekly series that came out. Both 52 and Countdown had their highlights, including the resurrection of the DC Multiverse. The latter series was not without its critics, with good reason, but nonetheless I found it a good adventure romp, even if it seemed to be a bit of a dumping ground for plotlines that had no other home. And can I ask, did anybody else find the Monarch plotline to have been ‘resolved’ in a most unsatisfactory manner?
Trinity on the other hand had structure, with every element serving a purpose. The masterful stroke here as to have the singular writer, the previous team efforts seemed more than a little unfocused. Still, I would still buy a weekly if one as on offer, and if it purported to be just a general title where the plot itself rather than characters were the star, if it was honest about its reason for being, so much the better.
I cannot look at the decade without celebrating the return of Doctor Who, both to our screens and the news stands. I have mentioned it before, but together with the Transformers re-launch (not that they ever really went away), my sense of nostalgia was enhanced with quality material.
Other re-launches did not fair so well. Where’s my regular Thundercats comic? Well, at least they gained a team-up with Superman. Something that the Masters Of The Universe managed back in the Eighties, not that their title survived either. It makes me wonder if I should make the effort to get familiar with Ben 10, after all in ten to fifteen years no doubt they will have their nostalgia titles hitting the stands.
Taking a quick over at the House Of Ideas, my highlights have to be the resurgence of the cosmic storylines, Annihilation, and Annihilation: Conquest. The Secret Invasion seemed to be the better earth-based crossover, making up for House Of M and Civil War, both of which were a little lacklustre, and seemed to more enrage than satiate the fans.
The greatest triumph of the decade has to be the vast amount of independent publishers, apart from the Big Two, although I rather think nowadays we should call them the Big Four, including Dark Horse and Image.
Avatar, Archaia, Boom (who are my personal favourite), Asylum, Th3rd World Studios, IDW the list is far from endless, but a lot healthier than this time ten years ago. Smaller companies chasing after licensed properties is a good way to get their brand recognised, and many of these companies have done exactly that while giving still more creators work and recognition. And that is the triumph of the decade.
