Cocktail Of The Year 2013

Yes, it's that slightly embarrassing, self-concious moment once again when I tally up which comics have made me the happiest throughout the year.

As regular readers know, each week I get my comics and run through them, posting a short review and what I did or didn't like about them. At the end of each week's reviews, I post a panel that, quite simply, made me smile that week and it's those panels that earn their respective titles the Cocktail for that week. I've gone through the 2013 Cocktail posts and using a hideously complicated process that I'm not going to bore you with worked out who gets the awards.

Taking over from Paul Cornell on Demon Knights was, in my opinion a hard act to follow but Robert Venditti managed it; he did the same picking up the reins from Geoff Johns on Green Lantern as well. The team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are consistently good on All Star Western which is a delight to read month in, month out.

However, it's Geoff Johns who with his work on Justice League, Justice League of America, Green Lantern and even Forever Evil that gave me something to smile about the most this year.

Johns's work on Justice League of America helped it make a good run for the top three and, as mentioned above, All Star Western is still one of the best comics around - each month in terms of writing and art it's consistently excellent.

That said, though, with writing duties being split between Geoff Johns, Robert Venditti and a splendid one-shot contribution from Charles Soule, it's Green Lantern that takes the top spot this year.

Thanks very much for reading Crisis on Earth-Prime whether you do it regularly or have come here looking for some very specific things - there's a lot of comic blogs on the net and it's appreciated that you spend some time here. Even more so if you choose to leave a comment! :)

Have yourselves a great New Year whatever you're doing and see you in 2014.

Cocktail Of The Year 2012

Yes, it's that slightly embarrassing, self-concious moment once again when I tally up which comics have made me the happiest throughout the year.

As regular readers know, each week I get my comics and run through them, posting a short review and what I did or didn't like about them. At the end of each week's reviews, I post a panel that, quite simply, made me smile that week and it's those panels that earn their respective titles the Cocktail for that week. I've gone through the 2012 Cocktail posts and using a hideously complicated process that I'm not going to bore you with worked out who gets the awards.

Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray's work on All-Star Western has been consistently good, not to mention the Freedom Fighters mini-series that they've been producing (hopefully) with plans for a new series sometime soon but it was the work of Paul Cornell on Saucer Country, Stormwatch but most of all for Demon Knights that pipped them to the post.

Sad to say Cornell's long gone from Stormwatch and has finished his run on Demon Knights so no more Vandal Savage to make me smile month in, month out.

The afore-mentioned All-Star Western and Demon Knights were both strong contenders for the series that provided me with the most laughs but - despite many people not liking it - the one that made me smile consistently was Worlds' Finest. It's not the best written series out there but remember, this is just about what gives me a chuckle and throughout the year and Levitz's writing, principally with Kevin Maguire's art, did it for me.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving comments - there's a whole ton of comic blogs out there so I really do appreciate it when someone spends some time in my little corner of the internet.

Have a great New Year and see you in 2013.

Cocktail Of The Year 2011

Yes, it's that slightly embarrassing, self-concious moment once again when I tally up which comics have made me the happiest throughout the year.

As regular readers know, each week I get my comics and run through them, posting a short review and what I did or didn't like about them. At the end of each week's reviews, I post a panel that, quite simply, made me smile that week and it's those panels that earn their respective titles the Cocktail for that week. I've gone through the 2011 Cocktail posts and using a hideously complicated process that I'm not going to bore you with worked out who gets the awards.

Cocktail Of The Year 2010

You ever do something as a bit of a laugh and then feel vaguely embarrassed when you realise that you should really do it again? That's me right now as I post the ridiculously self-indulgent Cocktail of the Year post just like I did last year. But hey, Jimmy Palmiotti popped over to say thanks so it shows you can never tell who's going to read these things.

Each week I get my comics, I run through them and post what I did or didn't like about them along with a panel that, quite simply, made me smile that week and it's those panels that earn their respective titles the Cocktail of the week. I've gone through the 2010 Cocktail posts and (by a hideously complicated process that I'm not going to bore you with) worked out who gets the awards.

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.