Catholic Skywalker Awards - BEST IN COMICS 2022

   With 2022 coming to a close, it is time for us to choose what the best entertainment of the year was.  And just as the Academy Awards have their "Oscars, " so too the Catholic Skywalker Awards have their "Kal-El's"

Now, if you are new to this blog you may be wondering why a blog called Catholic Skywalker would choose a Superman statue as it's award, and not something from Star Wars.   The reasons are 3-fold:

1.  The Catholic Skywalker Awards will cover movies, television, and comic books.  Superman is an icon for all three.

2.  The pose he has here, revealing his inner hero, is symbolic of the revelation of truth and beauty that we should find in all good art.

3.  It's a statue I actually own, so I can use this photo on my blog.

Catholic Skywalker: Best in Comics:

Best Series

The Flash

For the second year in a row, The Flash is the best comic book series out there.  This is primarily to Jeremy Adams, who might be the best writer in comics right now.  

Whenever I get my comics on Wednesday, if The Flash is out that day, it will be the very first comic I read when I get home.  

One of the things that is immediately evident from the way Adams writes this book is that he has an incredible respect for the history of the Flash and he loves these characters.  It reminds me of when Geoff Johns took over the book soon after Mark Waid's legendary run.  Waid had taken Wally West from being an unlikeable wannabe to cementing him as his generations Flash.  Johns had big shoes to fill, but his clear love for this world and respect for the lore elevated him to writing one of the greatest runs on a character in comic book history.

Adams has done an amazing job of restoring Wally to his proper place in the DC Universe after Heroes in Crisis.  He writes wonderfully fun adventures.  The issue with the cosmic wrestlers should be insanely silly.  Instead, it is insanely fun.  Adams knows how to write the Rogues.  His issue focusing on Heat Wave is one of the best on the character.

And the book is balanced out by family drama and humor.  More so than any book I read, this comic has the ability to laugh out loud.  Each member of the Flash family has their own distinct voice and personality that play off of each other in a wonderful way.

There is something... wholesome about this book.  That in no way means that it is bland.  What I mean is that there is nothing sour or off-putting in these stories.  And when I am finished, I am delighted and satisfied.  Even when he writes an extended crossover for Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, he makes it feel like a natural extension of the story.  This along with the amazing art by Fernando Pasarin makes this book a true joy.

I wrote it last year and I will write it now: if you only read one comic series, please read The Flash.

RUNNERS UP
Daredevil

Batman/Superman: World's Finest

Nightwing

Best Mini-Series

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths

RUNNERS UP
DC vs. Vampires

Flashpoint Beyond

Batman vs. Robin

The New Fantastic Four

Best One-Shot

The New Golden Age

 With the return of the Justice Society, the entire post-rebirth timeline needs to be reset.  And there is no one better to do that than Geoff Johns.  Rather than simply re-tell the original stories, Johns has set up an existential threat taht travels through time to come after the Golden Age heroes.  By couching this story in time travel, Johns can creatively retcon the details of these characters to fit into the new DCU.  In the hands of a lesser writer, I would be hesitant.  But Johns has proven himself to be time and again one of the truly great writers.  And his love for these Golden Age characters guarantees the story going forward will be something worth reading.  And it all starts with this issue that draws you in completely as it hops from era to era, landing in our own.  

Best Artist

Fernando Pasarin (The Flash)

As much as I love Jeremy Adams' writing, Pasarin gives bright, vivid life to these stories.  His style feels like the classic style I grew up with, but with a modern dynamic.  He was fantastic on Hawkman and he is even better here on The Flash.  He is able to capture the comedy and drama of each character in amazingly detailed facial expressions but also in his very detailed body language.  His characters and environments are vivid and come alive, jumping off of the page.  I hope he remains on the book for a long time.

RUNNERS UP
Bruno Redondo: Nightwing
Alan Robinson: New Fantastic Four

Gary Frank: Junkyard Joe

Mark Silvestri: Batman/Joker: Deadly Duo

Best Writer

Jeremy Adams (The Flash)

I wrote last year that Jeremy Adams is currently one of my favorite writers working in comics.

That is still true today.

I wrote much already about The Flash, but I really need to take a moment to talk about Flashpoint Beyond.  Originally I was under the impression that this story was from Geoff Johns with Adams and Tim Sheridan simply assisting.  But from what I understand now (I could be wrong), this story was mainly the brainchild of Adams.  The fact that I could not tell the difference between the creative plotting of Johns and Adams is actually an incredible compliment from me.  Perhaps it is bad form to compliment a writer by comparing him to another, but regular readers of this blog will know the absolute esteem in which I hold Johns.  So placing Adams in that orbit really is a compliment.

Adams is a well-rounded writer in that he is able to tell the big story and the little story.  He can set up the cosmic, big-stakes plot without losing the little internal dramas that occur between the characters.  His focus on really making the Flash family a real and relatable family makes me love the book even more.

If I was DC (or any company for that matter), I would reward him with more books.  I would be so excited to see what else Adams could do with any character in the DCU.  He has earned my esteem and my trust.

RUNNERS UP
Tom Taylor: Nightwing, DCeased: War of the Undead Gods
Mark Waid: World's Finest: Batman/Superman, Batman vs. Robin
Geoff Johns: Junkyard Joe
Greg Pak: Star Wars: Darth Vader