Cocktail Of The Year 2009

Long time readers (yes, both of you) will know that back at the start of this year I revamped my look at the comics I get each week into a quick one or two lines about each one. Prior to that I'd attempted to either review just one issue or all of them - both approaches simply took too much time for me but this third version seems to be working. Since March I've managed to post a Cocktail post on almost every Sunday (missing a couple due to holidays, family get togethers and my wedding anniversary) giving a quick run down of what I liked or didn't about the issues plus the "Cocktail of the week" picture - picking out an instance in that week's books that, simply, made me smile.

As the year draws to a close, I thought I'd count through the Cocktail posts and work out whose work I've enjoyed the most throughout 2009, splitting it into two categories - writers and series. So without any further ado, may I present:

The Cocktail for Favourite Writer of 2009

Both Matthew Sturges and Gail Simone scored five Cocktail posts for their work on Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! (mostly) and Secret Six respectively but the award goes to Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray for their work on Power Girl and the Supergirl story in Wednesday Comics.

I've said it pretty much every time I mention Power Girl, but if you're not reading this series, you really should. It's fun, has dialogue that is superb and a tongue-in-cheek approach to Power Girl's appearance that is handled excellently. Plus it has the gorgeous artwork of Amanda Conner. Buy the forthcoming trade paperback and get the monthly ongoing series as well.

The Cocktail for Favourite Series of 2009

There were two stand outs this year for me, two series that were enjoyable pretty much month after month: Power Girl (no surprise there) and Secret Six.

Gail Simone's writing on Secret Six is a joy to read, as much as Palmiotti and Gray's on Power Girl. The stories in both series are taut and yet fun - as much as I enjoy a big event like Blackest Night or a violent pseudo-realistic title like The Punisher, it's the good, fun series that keep me reading comics. Plus I think it's kinda nice that Simone gets some recognition as it was her work on The All New Atom that actually gave me the phrase Who'd Like A Cocktail?

So there you go, a slightly self-indulgent way to wrap up 2009 in comics for me.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable New Year whatever you're doing and see you all soon.