Wizard Fan Awards 2007: My Picks

Well, it’s that time of year again, as the Wizard Chicago Con approaches, Wizard opened up the voting for their fan awards to you, the fans, via an online voting form.

Now you might think I would take this opportunity to bash or criticize Wizard again, as I’m oft to do. But no, I like this. This is exactly what Wizard should be doing – by providing their position within the industry to get the community to vote, and have a fun awards ceremony. Although, that’s not to say I don’t agree with every nominee – clickthrough to see who I voted for as well as some thoughts about the nominees.

Below is each category, with my vote in bold as well as some comments in italics, where they apply.

Remember – this for work done in 2006, not 2007.

FAVORITE WRITER
• Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man)
Brian Michael Bendis (The New Avengers)
• Geoff Johns (Infinite Crisis)
• Ed Brubaker (Captain America)
• Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men)

Wow, way to pick like the five writers that I enjoy the most and make me pick one. Honestly, any of these guys could get my vote, but I went with Bendis because I keep it real.

FAVORITE PENCILER
• Steve McNiven (Civil War, The New Avengers)
• Steve Epting (Captain America)
• Phil Jimenez (Infinite Crisis)
John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary)
• Tony Daniel (Teen Titans)

While I was a big fan of McNiven before Civil War, he let me down a little on it, and I love Jimenez’s work, Infinite Crisis didn’t really do it for me. Steve Epting was a great surprise for me, but ultimately it’s Cassaday’s art who makes me swoon.

FAVORITE INKER
• Danny Miki (Moon Knight)
• Andy Lanning (Infinite Crisis)
Stefano Gaudiano (Daredevil)
• Mike Perkins (Captain America)
• Dexter Vines (Civil War)

I know very little about inking, but I do know that I love the lines in Daredevil, so there’s my vote.

FAVORITE COVER ARTIST
J.G. Jones (52)
• Simone Bianchi (Detective Comics)
• Gabrielle Dell’Otto (Annihilation)
• James Jean (Fables)
• Arthur Suydam (Marvel Zombies)

This one was stupid easy, JG Jones kicked ass on 52.

FAVORITE COLORIST
• Morry Hollowell (Civil War)
• Laura Martin (Astonishing X-Men)
Bill Crabtree (Invincible)
• Moose Baumann (Green Lantern)
• Dave Stewart (B.P.R.D)

This one was a bit of a surprise, Martin and Stewart are masters, but to me, the colors on Invincible are an integral part of the book — bright and vibrant when they need to be, dark and ominous at other times.

FAVORITE LETTERER
• Richard Starkings & Comicraft (The New Avengers)
• Nick J. Napolitano (Infinite Crisis)
• Todd Klein (Fables)
• Rus Wooten (Invincible)
Chris Eliopoulos (Civil War)

This shouldn’t be a surprise.

FAVORITE EDITOR
Steve Wacker (52)
• Tom Brevoort (The New Avengers)
• Peter Tomasi (Batman)
• Scott Allie (B.P.R.D.)
• Axel Alonso (Amazing Spider-Man

Voting for an editor is hard — I can’t even think of anything witty to compare it to. I give respect to the managing of 52, even if he did bail halfway through.

FAVORITE MALE HERO
• Captain America (Captain America)
• Ralph Dibny (52)
Daredevil (Daredevil)
• Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man)
• Luke Cage (The New Avengers)

Sure Cap may get the sympathy vote, but for me, Daredevil is where it’s at.

FAVORITE FEMALE HERO
• She Hulk (She-Hulk)
• Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman)
• Ms. Marvel (Ms. Marvel)
Renee Montoya (52)
• Black Canary (Birds of Prey)

Montoya was the only one on this list that was interesting enough in the past year to deserve an award.

FAVORITE VILLAIN
• Superboy Prime (Infinite Crisis)
• Lex Luthor (52)
Annihilus (Annihilation)
• The Governor (The Walking Dead)
• The Red King (The Incredible Hulk)

He almost took over the universe! The universe!

FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Winter Soldier (Captain America)
• The Question (52)
• Foggy Nelson (Daredevil)
• Jimmy Olsen (All Star Superman)
• Debbie Grayson (Invincible)

No other character has captured my imagination like Bucky.

FAVORITE ONGOING SERIES
• Captain America (Marvel)
• The Walking Dead (Image)
Daredevil (Marvel)
• 52 (DC)
• Runaways (Marvel)

Aside from my beloved X-Men, Daredevil has been one of my favorite books and it continued through the handoff from Bendis to Brubaker without a hitch.

FAVORITE MINISERIES
• Infinite Crisis (DC)
• B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame (Dark Horse)
• Marvel Zombies (Marvel)
Nova (Marvel)
• Civil War: Young Avengers and Runaways (Marvel)

Of course it’s Nova, but wait a minute, what the hell is Civil War: Young Avengers and Runaways doing on here? That was the WORST mini series of the entire Civil War story. Hell, it was the worst book of the year. Bizarre.

FAVORITE ONE-SHOT
• Villains United Special (DC)
• Annihilation Prologue (Marvel)
• The Goon 25-Cent Issue (Dark Horse)
Winter Soldier: Winter Kills (Marvel)
• Civil War: Casualties of War (Marvel)

It’s all about Bucky these days.

FAVORITE PUBLISHER
Marvel Comics
• DC Comics
• Dark Horse Comics
• Image Comics
• Oni Press

Who am I kidding? I’m a Zombie at the end of the day.

FAVORITE COMIC MERCHANDISE
Hawkeye Statue (Bowen Designs)
• MiniMates Galactus Statue (Diamond Select)
• Dr. Doom Helmet & Hood (Limited by CAS)
• Jennifer from Liberty Meadows Statue (CD Moore Studio)
• Sexy Slave Leia Statue (Kotobukiya)

I was sad not to see the Grey Gargoyle bust on this list.

FAVORITE ACTION FIGURE LINE
• Marvel Legends (Toy Biz)
• DC Superheroes (Mattel)
Alex Ross’ Justice (DC Direct)
• Superman/Batman (DC Direct)
• Marvel MiniMates (Diamond Select Toys)

I actually bought a couple of the figures from this line.

FAVORITE COMIC MOVIE PROJECT
V for Vendetta (Warner Bros)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (Fox)
• Art School Confidential (Sony)
• Superman Returns (Warner Bros)
• Casino Royale (MGM)

Uhm, Casino Royale was a comic movie project? Since when? I’d sooner vote for Civil War: Young Avengers and Runaways than I would for X-Men: The Last Stand.

BREAKOUT TALENT
• Christos N. Gage (Union Jack)
Ed Benes (Justice League of America)
• Ivan Reis (Green Lantern)
• Daniel Acuña (Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters)
• Greg Pak (The Incredible Hulk)

I’ve really enjoyed Pak on World War Hulk, but this is for work done in 2006 and I didn’t read Planet Hulk, so I’ll go with Benes.

COMICS GREATEST MOMENT
• Death of Superboy (Infinite Crisis #6)
• Death of Roger the Homunculus (B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame #3)
• Spider-Man unmasks (Civil War #2)
• Clone Thor kills Goliath (Civil War #3)
Death of Booster Gold (52 #15)

You know, there MUST be better moments than these, didn’t Kitty and Colossus get together in 2006? I would have picked that!

FAVORITE TV SHOW
• Lost (ABC)
Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)
• Heroes (NBC)
• Smallville (The CW)
• Justice League Unlimited (Cartoon Network)

BSG owned me for several months

FAVORITE DVD RELEASE
V for Vendetta (Warner Bros)
• Superman Returns (Warner Bros)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (Fox)
• Ultimate Avengers II (Marvel)
• Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (Warner Bros)

I was going to vote for Casino Royale, but…

FAVORITE VIDEO GAME
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision)
• Justice League Heroes (Warner Bros Interactive)
• Superman Returns (EA Games)
Gears of War (Microsoft Game Studios)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Nintendo)

I didn’t do a lot of gaming in 2006, but Gears of War scared the crap out of me, for weeks after I played it… so there you go.

Who did you vote for? Who is missing?