Comic Booked 2013 Editors’ Choice Awards

The time has come to recognize the best of the best, and trust us it’s not an easy ceremony to arrive at. Anyone can quickly rattle off their favorites, but to dig deep among an editorial team and hammer out which comic book awards to honor is a bloody, sweaty, arduous task with no room to look in the rear-view mirror after it’s finished. OK maybe it’s not quite as bad as that sounds, but we’re all thankful that the company is still standing afterwords! Here are the 2013 Comic Booked Editors’ Choice Awards!

Best Super Hero Series: X-Men Legacy – Don’t let the beautiful but sometimes oddball seeming art mislead you, while it sometimes takes the tone of one, this isn’t some zany, overly pretentious style indie book, this is the most super of them all. ~ Scorpio Moon

Bravest New Series: Pretty Deadly – an old western gothic action poem? Even for Image that’s an adventurous combination. ~ Scorpio Moon

Best New Character: Eve Coffin, Coffin Hill –  Coming from a family “like the Kennedys but with more madness and murder, ” Eve Coffin grows up to become a cop, and a god damned hero cop at that. Her murky past and rebellious nature give the character a momentum that will carry you with her through any story.  ~ Scorpio Moon

Best Team Book: Uncanny X-Men – Whether Cyclops represents the future of the X-Men or the end of the dream, Uncanny X-Men has carried the torch of the character’s development, and surrounded him with a collection of X-Men whose lives will make you laugh when you should be crying, and cry when you should be laughing. The bittersweet character interactions have come to define the book this year, as a new class of kids comes to earn the name “X-Men.” ~ Scorpio Moon

Best Characterization: Batman and Robin – Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason have had the difficulty (or blessing, or freedom, depending on how you look at it) of not only making Damian Wayne likable, but after doing such, trying to replace him. A title that changes almost monthly, the Death of the Family tie-in issues, the Requiem one-shot, and the stages of grieving team-up books that followed were nothing short of incredible. Batman may be the best DC book on the shelves, but Batman and Robin is the most eloquent. ~ Jeff Hill

Best Villain: The Joker, Batman and other related titles – He cut his own face off. He returned. He scared the crap out of everyone and destroyed the trust and very foundation of the Batman family while he did it. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo were joined by the likes of other top talents from around the DC globe in the epic “Death of the Family” storyline. Even though it ended near the beginning of the year, its ramifications and hints toward future stories still keep many a reader up at night. Joker’s always been scary, but now he’s completely and utterly terrifying. ~ Jeff Hill

Best Twitter Stories: Jim Steranko – New to Twitter, this legendary creator expanded on his own mythos and even spawned a series of several parody accounts. Subscribe to his words of wisdom and chaos, but be warned: Your newsfeed will never be the same again. This is an example of walking the fine line between “too much information” and beautifully articulate (albeit long-winded) responses to each and every person brave enough to ask him a question. You’re not just going to get a retweet or a favorite from Mr. Steranko. You’re going to get a life-altering tale of intrigue, drama, and suspense…  140 characters at time! ~ Jeff Hill

Best Event: Forever Evil – Master architect, event God, Chief Creative Officer, and writer extraordinaire Geoff Johns helms the lead of the first line-wide event since DC Comics’ reboot in the form the New 52. The heroes are dead. The villains have inherited the earth. And no one seems to be too upset that the bad guys are taking (and dominating) the spotlight in not only sales, but positive critical response. Though the endgame remains to be seen, 2014 looks like it’s going to get a whole lot darker before our heroes make their inevitable return. A special shout-out to whomever had the idea for “Villains Month.” Though there were a few stinkers that popped into the 52 releases that month, it was nice to see a few familiar faces (both fictional and real) finally get their dues. It was nice to see some creators come out of retirement, rejoin the fray of current writers, and fresh faces take up some high profile books. Also: Who doesn’t love the bad guys?  No one. And that’s why this event rocks. ~ Jeff Hill

Best Miniseries: Thanos Rising – This was a tough one for me. I had to think back over the year and how many minis I actually read. My all time favorite for this year, and winner of best miniseries, is Marvel Comic’s Thanos Rising, the story of the origin of the Mad Titan, Thanos. I love Simone Bianchi’s art on this book, his lines and colors bring out the anguish in the character and the development of the deeply disturbed being who can decimate his entire race. This was one series I really did not want to end, but when it did, I was really satisfied. ~ Aaron Clutter

Best Live Action TV Adaptation: Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time – There were quite a few of these this year, from Battlestar Galactica to The X-Files to Dark Shadows. The one that I really enjoyed, start to finish, was Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time. With the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who this year, IDW Publishing took the time to craft a great story bringing back one of the lesser remembered characters from the most recent incarnation of the show. Teaming that person up with a long time Doctor foe and kidnapping all of the  companions made for a great story and a neat way to revisit each of the Doctors with each issue of the 12 issue series being all the Doctors in progression. It was fun, interesting, and a great homage to an awesome TV show. ~ Aaron Clutter

Best Animated TV Adaptation: The Powerpuff Girls – Again, a ton of these in the category, Ben 10, Adventure Time, even My Little Pony, which my two young daughters love. This series is a solid story with lots of humor, great art, and it doesn’t read like a children’s book. It, like the cartoon it was based on, has two audiences in mind – the kids who want the fighting and the cute, and the adults who want the wit and the puns that make this the top choice for the award. ~ Aaron Clutter

Best Movie Adaptation or Continuation: Ash and the Army of Darkness – For me, this list was short this year. Dynamite Entertainment has some great properties, but none more fun and, at times infuriating, than Evil Dead. When I head that Steve Niles was helming a new book that was going to continue the antics of Ash right from the end of the movie Army of Darkness, I knew I had to read it. The artwork is really smooth and helps to tell the story in a great way. It is just what I would expect from the movie sequel, with all the twists and turns and cheesy pickup lines that Ash can muster. ~ Aaron Clutter

Best Editor: Mike Marts – It wasn’t until about two months into Death of the Family that I realized that a) editors sure do have a tough job and b) they really don’t get enough praise.  So when an epic event (and I mean epic) goes above and beyond all of its expectations, it’s completely unfair to attribute the success entirely to the creators behind it. That’s why I am giving a special shout-out (and long overdue, if you ask me) to Mike Marts, the guy behind all of the Batman books. He’s been doing great work for quite a while now and didn’t once lose steam this entire year. Editing makes things look nice, yeah, but it also makes them seem real and plausible. No one was ever out of place and everything was accounted for. Well done, sir. ~ Jeff Hill

Best Letterer: Ed Dukeshire – Where would BOOM! Studios be without him?

Best Artist: Jock – Whether it was on the cover or the interior pages, he’s made the most of his time working with some of the biggest characters in comics this year.

Best Writer: Rick Remender  – He’s been writing stories that are truly “epic” in the world of superhero comics, and writes like the accomplished veteran he is outside of them too.

Best Series: Jupiter’s Legacy – Not even a bimonthly publishing schedule can slow the momentum of this relentless trope-subverting heir to the throne of books like Watchmen and Irredeemable.

Best Publisher: Image Comics – There have been so many good comics this year, but for pure quality of diversity and diversity of quality, Image can’t be beat!

Honest debate and discussion are welcome in our brand new Facebook comments below. Congrats to all of our winners, and good luck in 2014!