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Number 1: Top Ten Comicbook Issues of 2004, Part 2

Number 8: The Ultimates, Volume 1 #13
Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch

I will buy anything Mark Millar writes. Let's just get that out there. To me, Millar is the epitome of the modern classic superhero comicbook writer. His style is so clean, so subtle that you can't help but focus on the story itself. Let me clarify that a bit.

When Millar writes a fight, it's not especially style-ized. When he writes dialogue between characters, it's not in an obvious, focused way like Brian Bendis' classic 'pages-full-of-head-shots' style. His characters have depth and complexity, but not in such a way that they weigh down the comic.

What Millar effectively does, then, is focus your attention on the events of the story. His complex characterization, crazy fights, and witty dialogue are subtle to the point that you almost wouldn't notice what he does: write them damn well. It's like the musician that plays so beautifully, it sounds easy: Millar makes good writing seem effortless.

The result is a winning story every time. No weighty themes, no moral conclusions. Just a climax, resolution, and some character development thrown in between.

The Ultimates is an excellent series for just these reasons. It's a team book, so the characters must be subtle enough to work as an ensemble. It's a new series using well-established characters, so the exposition and dialogue needs to be woven in without weighing the story itself down as it develops. Of course, Millar does an exemplary job.

Let me say that I really wasn't much a fan of the original Avengers. They were a campy, one-dimensional 'there-are-tough-bad-guys-out-there-so-lets-be-good-guys-together' kind of book. The Ultimates is a far cry from that. The characters are essentially the same, but more mature in this book. More complex.

And of course, the stories themsleves rock. Issue #13, as the finale of the series is excellent. It blends humor, real tension, and awesome action to a fevered climax. It weaves all of the subplots of the previous issues into an incredible conclusion. And all with the truly awesome art of Bryan Hitch.

It's an easy pick for number 8.


Number 7: New X-Men #154
Grant Morrison and Marc Silvestri

In my last mention of this title, I spoke of how bizarre Morrison's stories are. He does this crazy shit - throwing aliens, evil pre-natal twins, and fucked up new mutants all into a blender that is the pages of the New X-Men - and it seems to work. As I see them, here are the keys to why:

1) He stays true to the basics of the characters. Cyclops is still a tight-ass. Wolverine is the bad-attitude, loose cannon. Beast is the geek (but with humor).

2) He then develops these characters by facing them with new crises, challanges and relationships. He forces them to live on the page, dealing with new issues by adapting their personalities. This creates a great complexity in character.

3) He minimalizes. Starting his run on New X-Men by killing Magneto was pure genious. Think about it: you have this character who has been pure evil, afflicted evil, afflicted good, and pure good - the whole range. A characater who has been used in so many ways by so many writers, and now it's your turn. What do you do? Kill him! Why even deal with that mess of history and continuity?
What this allows Morrison to do is tell a story from the beginning - introduce new elements that the heroes face, and come to his own style of resolution.

4) He interweaves subplots into a coherent and intense climax. Which brings us to issue #154.

New X-Men #154 is Morrison's final and ultimate chapter of the series. In this single issue, he takes a gigantic chunk of his previous run, and snowballs it into one climax. The mutant drug, 'kick,' the sinister and mysterious John Sublime, and the return of the Pheonix are just a few of the major stories that come to a head in this issue. And it's done in a way that's masterful.

Morrison pulls together all the strings, and suddenly and finally we see the web he's been weaving the whole time.

I also need to note the return of Marc Silvestri to the X-Men. Along with Jim Lee, this guy introduced me to Wolverine and the X-Men. His stylized art brought the characters to life in a way that I'll always be nostalgic for. And there's no better way to win my heart than to have the amazing art dragging me back to the good old days while I see my favorite characters drawn into new battles and mature stories.

Kudos to you both for bringing me such joy. That version of the Phoenix that you see above should be put at number 1 on it's own merit.




To continue the list, click here.