The Best Stuff of 2014 (according to me)

(Click here for The Best Stuff of 2013)

Best comic of 2014: Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo’s Batman

It's the same comic I chose last year but it's still so damn good. Every issue my jaw is literally made to drop by some plot twist, or a spot on character moment.  Snyder is a very wordy comics writer, but not in an amateurish way. His characters give beautiful speeches that can inspire a city or chill you to the bone. But Snyder also knows when to get out of the way and let Capullo do his thing. Capullo is the greatest Bat-artist since Breyfogle. His faces seem simple and a bit cartoony at first glance but convey so much complex emotion. As I observed last year, they are a writer/artist team in perfect synch with each other. We are in a new golden age for Batman comics.

Runners Up: Superior Iron Man, She-Hulk, Batman Eternal, Geoff Johns & John Romita's Superman. Also, with Justice League #28-29Geoff Johns wrote one of the greatest Metal Men stories ever.


Most underrated comic of 2014: James Robinson's Fantastic Four

With all the rumour and panic over whether Disney are forcing Marvel to cancel this book, the fact that it's really actually very good has been somewhat overlooked. When the run began it seemed like we'd seen it all before: Reed messes up, the public turn against the team, they split up etc. But it very quickly became apparent that this was something new. Each of the four characters' personal story arcs (Reed's new job, Sue raging at the world over her lost children, Johnny powerless, Ben in prison) could sustain a story in itself but they've recently begun to come together in a very satisfying fashion. Forgotten corners of Fantastic Four history have been mined for story potential and character growth in a way that will satisfy the long time fans but not alienate any newer readers. Please don't let the rumours put you off checking out this great comic.

Runner Up: Justice League United. Cosmic superhero fun and great characters. DC are cashing in on the hype over Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in the best way possible.

Best event of 2014: Multiversity

With Multiversity Grant Morrison hasn't so much been giving us stories as windows into fully formed Universes with characters that feel like they've been around for years. But it's not just sitting back and admiring his cleverness, these are genuinely fun Universes to explore. Every issue will leave you wishing you could spend more time with these characters. Not only that but each issue is drawn by one of the industry's best artists, and they've been given loads of time (in some cases years) to get Morrison's vision just right.

Runner up:Spiderverse. I initially thought this would suck as the build up to it felt quite long and drawn out and the premise (multiple Spider-men from multiple universes) seemed a bad match for Spidey. But as it turns out, it's become a hugely entertaining story that, even with the multiple Spideys involved, never loses sight of the importance of "our" Peter Parker, the real Amazing Spider-Man.

Most disappointing comic of 2014: Superman - Doomed

This event started off quite well, with Charles Soule's first few chapters in Superman/Wonder Woman being a definite highlight. But the whole thing went on for aaaaaaaaaages. There just wasn't enough story to sustain it's length so we ended up with Superman being taken over by Doomsday and saying "must...fight...urge...to ...kill" for what felt like 100 issues. And then Brainiac turned up at the end or something. I don't know. It grew more impenetrable as it went on. Or maybe I'd lost so much interest by then that I wasn't taking it all in. Either way, this should have been a four part story, not a multi-issue epic. The worst thing about it was it interrupted Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder's amazing Action Comics run.

Runner Up: Original Sin. A nice idea dragged out into a boring story. Why were we supposed to give a monkeys about Dr Midas and the Orb? I barely knew who they were and they ended up having very little impact on the overall story. And why did the Watcher let himself get killed in the first place? The whole thing feels like Marvel got really excited about where the characters would end up and then cobbled together something really half arsed to get them there.

Best Comic Book Film of 2014: Captain America - The Winter Soldier

Absolutely brilliant stuff. The cast are spot on, the action's amazing, and the Winter Soldier looks like he's stepped off the comic book page. The film moves events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe along significantly while still standing up as a great film in it's own right. Quite a feat.

Best non-comics related film of 2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson's best film since The Royal Tennenbaums and possibly Ralph Fiennes best role ever. It's beautiful to look at, hilarious, and genuinely moving.

Best TV show of 2014: Obviously it's Doctor bloody Who

Peter Capaldi's first series has been the best series, and the best Doctor, since Christopher Eccleston. The execution of the sci-fi concepts has mostly been complete bobbins (moon egg hatches, giant space bird craps out another moon egg, Earth is fine), but the character stuff has been better than it's been in years. There's been none of the old River Song style dialogue that tells us all why the Doctor's so great ("That man, that wonderful man.."), the characters are all actually saying stuff that real people might conceivably say. Capaldi's Doctor is way more interesting than his immediate predecessors, showing a manipulative streak that's reminiscent of the Seventh Doctor. Jenna Coleman really seems to have stepped up her game and her and Capaldi have a real rapport that's a joy to watch. Danny is brilliant, and it's immensely satisfying to see him tear the Doctor down a peg or two. We've had some intriguing insights into the Doctor's character this series. The whole "not a soldier" thing has been fascinating. The monsters have been proper creepy, the jokes genuinely funny, and the only duff episode was the one with the trees.

Runners Up:Arrow, The Flash, Gotham. Genuinely can't decide which one's the most fun. Probably the Flash, but it's a close one.

Best things I discovered in 2014 that everybody else already knew about: