My Marvelous Year: 2005

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• I said it before: 2005 is an awesome year for Marvel. Between House of M, Winter Soldier, Astonishing X-Men and the Ultimate titles it is hard to single out just exactly one issue or even one title that is the best. I feel for books like Panther and Iron Man. They are good…and in any other year they might get more attention, but by comparison they look like less.

  For me the real surprise was Daredevil. Not generally my favourite book, but the Bendis run has been exemplary. And this year was perhaps the best. Usually as a writer’s run on a title winds down the stories start to show a little less “umph”, but Decalogue really bucks that trend. And then to finish with the Murdock Papers, wow, just excellent work from Mr. Bendis.

  Bendis is once again the writer of the year, without a doubt. Considering his work on New Avengers, The Pulse, House of M and Daredevil how could he not be? And that is not even taking into account Ultimate Spider-Man, which I once again had left for last, and once again I ended up reading in pretty much one sitting.

  And while I have not been enamored of his artistic style in past years, Alex Maleev comes into his own this year. He uses subtle changes in style through the year to show us different point of view, and indeed, different story styles. Very well done. I like Steve Eptings work on Captain America, and Hitch on Ultimates (and Bagley on Spidey). But Maleev stands out above the others this year.

• Ok, not sure how I missed this when I read it all those years ago...
  But did anyone else notice that in the Ultimate FF N-zone story that Nihil's minions were Jawas (from Star Wars a New Hope)?...even down to their weapons (that Reed eventually gives General Ross)

• An excellent, excellent year. In fact, I can't really think of anything that I didn't enjoy (well, except for one arc which I'll detail at the end). Pretty much everything was working during this era.

  I'd read House of M before and was blown away at the time (especially by the killer twist ending), but I'd never read the tie-ins before this read-through. While I'm not sure how much most of the tie-ins added to the core story, I don't think any of them were weak, though some weren't really my taste (Mutopia, I'm looking at you, even though it ended strongly). House of M is definitely an excellent crossover/major event, certainly one of my favorites that we've read.

  Other big highlights for me: Brubaker's Captain America was phenomenal both with artwork and plotting, Bendis' Daredevil goes out on a very very high note, and Extremis is unique and very striking. I also highly enjoyed most everything else, especially New and Young Avengers, Astonishing X-Men, Wolverine, Runaways, Black Panther (I actually liked this more than the beginning of Priest's run), X-23, Cable and Deadpool, and The Pulse. Maybe the only thing I didn't love was GLA, which just seemed a little pointless given the ending, and The Other arc in Spidey was interesting but ultimately disappointing.

  Moving on to the Ultimate Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man continues to be wonderful 90 issues in! Probably still my fave of the year and unquestionably one of my favorite comics I've ever read. Ultimate Fantastic Four was also really great, with striking artwork and some very interesting and different takes on classic characters and events (the N-Zone in particular was wild and harkened back to some of the amazing weirdness of peak Kirby, and the take on Namor was surprising and incredibly dark). Magnetic North was a good arc for X-Men, and Iron Man, while likely not at all canon, was at least interesting and different. Ultimate Secret was also really cool, with the whole Fermi Paradox explanation being a highlight of the year.

  However, the Ultimates 2, while unbelievably epic and intense to read, has the Mark Millar biff pow I'm an immature teenage boy playing with action figures mentality that I can't stand from him and that exists all throughout Civil War (which I guess was happening somewhat at the same time as this and which I'll have to grit my teeth reading next month). While I liked The Ultimates 2 much more than Civil War (and it finally vindicates Thor!), the last several issues were almost mind-numbing with the over the top action and I rolled my eyes several times.

  Overall though, this was a phenomenal year, and I'm a little sad it's over. After this is all over, I'll likely go back and try to read more issues and arcs from 2005. Onto 2006!

• New Avengers, well, what can I say? This is the Bendis era and this is another fine piece of work from him contributing to that being the case. Good team dynamics (even if it seems awfully nineties to have Spider-Man and Wolverine as Avengers!), good story arcs, and plenty of connections to the rest of the Bendis-verse that was taking shape at that time (Daredevil, The Pulse, Secret War, et al). Speaking of The Pulse, I finished that off too, absolutely loved it from beginning to end. The Pulse #12 was my issue of the year, nothing made me laugh harder than Captain America's side-eye and Dr. Strange's "too soon!" look that Spider-Man got for his "and this HAS to go better than that did!" comment.

  I normally recoil from anything with "Young" in the title, but I liked Young Avengers, too. Some nice twists with the characters not quite being what they seemed, some first appearances from characters like Kate Bishop, Wiccan, Hulkling, and some entertaining, breezy writing. Enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

  The X-related stuff (House of M, Wolverine, X-23, Astonishing, Phoenix Endsong, Cable & Deadpool) I read last year. The only re-reading I did was the core limited series of House of M, which I'm a big fan of. I do maintain that it shares a few too many similarities with Age of Apocalypse, but it's a sweet, sweet "altered reality" event. "No more mutants" will never NOT be chilling. Of the ones I didn't re-read, I have fond memories of Wolverine's "Enemy of the State", I loved X-23, Whedon's Astonishing never did quite as much for me as it did for a lot of people, Phoenix Endsong was forgettable, Cable & Deadpool was OK.

  This Captain America relaunch was pure gold. Very, very strong stuff, I can see why they decided to use The Winter Soldier in the second Cap movie (even if they didn't really take much from the story besides the titular character). Just great stuff, with some big surprises even knowing who The Winter Soldier was, such as the death at the end of issue one, or the face in the reflection at the end of #14.

  Daredevil, goddamn, every year it just gets better and better. "The Murdock Papers" was a massive triumph and a killer way for Bendis to sign off. I'd be crushed except that I know Brubaker's lengthy and also rather acclaimed run follows him. I'll give Bendis another "Writer of the Year" vote (hard not to, between this, New Avengers, House of M and The Pulse) and bid him a fond farewell. The Kingpin gets (another) Villain of the Year vote for his splendid scheme, too.

  Hudlin's Black Panther didn't grab me at first. Wasn't keen on the anachronistic dialogue in the historical bits, and dubious about the new origin story which was so different to how he was first introduced in the 60's in Fantastic Four. But it grew on me, I think he really found his voice in the "Two The Hard Way" arc, which was a lot of fun as an array of black heroes fought ninjas and vampires. So different to Priest's run, but entertainment, for sure!

  The "Extremis" arc of Iron Man was one I'd heard of but never read. Not bad, an interesting attempt at genuinely changing the character's power set. Adi Granov's art was not of a style which normally appeals to me, but for some reason, it really did. I tipped Granov an "Artist of the Year" vote for achieving that.

  • I had not read Age of Apocalypse before engaging in the Marvelous Year here, so I had not seen the similarities between the two up until this month. But as I read through the House of M this time around, like you, I could not help but notice the similarities. I like House, but like alot of the mega crossovers it has too much going on.

    I think if you trim off Iron Man, New X-Men, Exiles and maybe Mutopia it would be a far better read. The main series is good, and in my opinion what makes it better than Age of, as it it gives us a clear idea of the central plot. Fantastic Four, Uncanny, Spider and Wolverine also fit in well. I like the Hulk book, but it also could be trimmed out to make a more stream lined read.

    • Yeah there wasn't really any way to focus in on the central plot of Age of Apocalypse, was there? They hadn't really developed the "core limited series + tie-ins" model of event back then, so you really felt you had to read four issues of every single X-title.

      I didn't feel that I missed much at all just reading the core House of M limited series this time around. I do remember that a number of the tie-ins were very entertaining, but not that any of them were crucial to understanding what was going on.

      • With Age of I still am not sure what it was about...was the main story Wolverine? Cyclops? Bishop?
        With House we could clearly follow Wlovie as he "wakes up" (which followed well from the Millar storyline) and helps others "wake up" to confront Magneto and family.
        The "twist" reveal that it was all Quicksilver added a nice touch and the "no more mutants" gave it a story with consequences. After Age of it felt like there were no consequences.
        And the end of House leads well into subsequent stories. This is a good jumping on point for Bendis run in Avengers and all of the fun that ensues.

• Ultimate Fantastic Four: Most of the block for the year is just okay, but the Warren Ellis/Adam Kubert N-Zone arc is absolutely genius. #14 got my vote for issue of the year for the sequence of the shuttle traveling through the portal. The whole thing is exploration and sci-fi fun at its finest.

  Ultimate Spider-Man: Most of this is very good, particularly the Hobgoblin and Warriors stories.

  Cable & Deadpool: The first six issues in this block are excellent.

  Ultimate X-Men: Decent, Magnetic North arc is excellent

  G.L.A.: Okay

  Stormbreaker: Okay

  Ultimate Secret: Okay

  Runaways: First arc is okay

  That covers just about everything for 2005. There were quite a few high points and not too many lows. Even the average issues have much greater artistic merit and technical quality than similar stories from the 1970's.

• Astonishing X-Men: This second arc by Whedon and Cassaday is every bit as good as the first. I love what Cassaday did with the covers on this series. They look great and unusual, and they have a sense of originality and style. Here and elsewhere in Marvel's output, the lettering by Chris Eliopoulos is just excellent.

  Daredevil: The Murdock Papers is an arc I like (though not the extended dream sequence in #81), and Decalogue is not. I voted for Kingpin for best villain of the year (even though Wanda's actions probably caused more heartbreak and grief in House of M). Kingpin does not have to shout or hit you to feel scary and intimidating. The subtext of his words and the tiniest gesture he makes is sufficient to get his point across.

  Captain America: The art and storytelling in the Brubaker/Epting run is always high quality, and the Winter Soldier arc is one of the high points of the title. From any technical standpoint, the book outshines most of the competition. What keeps me from gushing about it more is that not very much happens in any given issue. I am glad I am reading on MU instead of paying by the issue.

  Phoenix: Endsong: The story is strong, and it elevates a lot of the characters from how they were written in New X-Men. I wonder what somebody like Salvador Larroca could do with the art, though. Greg Land's tracing means that he can only rise so far as an artist.

  Black Panther: decent (love the reaction shot of TChalla and Luke Cage to seeing Han's daughter in #11)

  Iron Man: decent

  X-23: decent

  Young Avengers: the first arc is okay

• Question about Drax: I see that this four-parter is the first thing on the Annihilation reading order, and it looks like the next titles on there are from early 2006. Would it be a fair speculation that some Annihilation is going to be on the cards for the 2006 list? Might it be better to leave Drax until then? Or are they not so tightly coupled?

• Good lord Brubaker's Captain America this year is just incredible. Probably the best marvel comics i've read in the 21st century.

  • It really is good.

    I had not realized just how awesome 2005 was. I had read a lot of it before, but all out of context. The only thing I was reading as it came out was Ultimate Spidey. Amazing Spider-Man and Astonishing I read about 2006, House of M probably about 2007; then Extremis and the Winter Soldier in 2007 as I was trying to get up to speed for Civil War. And when you add to this Ultimate Spider-Man, The Ultimates and the Ultimate Secret books, wow, 2005 is one of those years that Marvel was firing on all cylinders.

    I wonder about the reading list, though. Shouldn’t Wolverine be read before New Avengers? The same for Young Avengers? And for that matter, shouldn’t those and Capt A, Iron Man, and the Astonishing all come before House of M? As should ASM (and if are not reading ASM, shame on you. It really is far better than a few things on the main list)

    The New Avengers is cool, and it’s great to start with a bang, but having finished those, Captain A and Young Avengers, I see that the order should be reversed.

• Why do you have Captain America #1 to #8, #10 to #14? Did you mean to skip something other than issue #9, which is right in the middle of the Winter Soldier arc?

  • Issue #9 is a House of M tie-in.

    • #10 is the House of M tie-in for Captain America. I assumed that maybe #7 could possibly have been the one you meant to have skipped, as it is a standalone issue about Jack Monroe.

      • Yep, my mistake! Updated the lists to reflect - issue #10 is the tie-in.

• House of M: For an event with such far-ranging consequences, the writing comes across as very average. Some of the moments of various characters being happy were fun to see, but there was no complete issue that I felt stood out. The tie-ins, too, were fairly pedestrian. If you already like the character, the tie-in issues are fine, but they are hardly required reading.

  New Avengers: The best arcs for 2005 are The Sentry and Secrets and Lies. What I like best about this series is the line-up of characters. Finally, Spider-Man and Wolverine are on an Avengers roster together.

  Disliked: Wolverine, Drax, Ultimates 2, The Pulse (#14 is redeemed partially by the baby)

  Skipping: Ultimate Iron Man (not in continuity, and I detest Orson Scott Card), Amazing Spider-Man: The Other (I've read about this storyline, and it seems long and unappealing at best; comments here may persuade me to check out some of it)

  Other recommendations for 2005: The Spectacular Spider-Man #21 (poker game with The Thing and others), Fantastic Four #524 (Wieringo), Fantastic Four #527-532 (JMS writes them well), New X-Men #10-11 (Too Much Information arc), Uncanny X-Men #455-459 (World's End arc), Ultimate X-Men Annual #1 (read it before Ultimate X-Men #61), Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #1 (read it before Ultimate Spider-Man #86)

  I'll comment on the rest at a later date, but this is enough to get a little conversation flowing.