Sunday Best: The Catholic Skywalker Awards 2019- BEST IN COMICS

With 2019 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, 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

Detective Comics

When it became clear that Tom King's Batman run was on its way to crashing and burning, I was worried that we would not get the Batman stories we want.  Thankfully Peter J. Tomasi took over Detective Comics.  Tomasi understands Batman and the entire Bat-Family.  Even though is was shackled by the events in King's book, Tomasi gave us some great adventures of the Dark Knight.  The introduction of the Arkham Knight was a neat way to fold that character into the comics continuity from the games.  His handling of the Mr. Freeze story was a welcome evolution of the character.  In this story, Freeze is able to take his wife out of suspended animation and make her like him.  At first Nora is horrified, but slowly, the processes turns her into a monster worse than her husband.  It is wonderfully tragic to see that by "saving" her, Freeze loses her all over again.  But my favorite story this year was Batman's interaction with the Spectre.  I loved the juxtaposition of Batman's relative humanity to the Spectre's relative omnipotence.  It was also a wonderful exploration of the relationship between justice and vengeance.  Artist Doug Mahnke is at the top of his game, making the stories visceral as we see the strain that the never-ending mission takes on all the characters involved.  This is the Batman comic you should be reading.

RUNNERS UP
Hawkman

The Flash

Justice League Dark

SHAZAM!

Best Mini-Series

DOOMSDAY CLOCK

I waited to write this article until the final issue of Doomsday Clock hit the news stands.  I wrote this last year:

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are taking putting all of their talent to try to do the impossible: create an antidote to Watchmen.  The Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons masterpiece is a perfect piece of nihilistic fiction that deconstructs the notion of superheroes and heroism in general.  The themes are dark and horrid, but they are presented with such genius and talent that they demand respect and attention.  Johns and Frank are going to try and create a piece of fiction that constructs the notion of superheroes and heroism in a way that adequately answers the challenge of Watchmen.

To do this, Johns and Frank are meeting Moore and Gibbons on their own ground.  The style is exactly in keeping with Watchmen.  And Johns is not taking any shortcuts.  He is dragging our beloved DC icons into the moral muck of the Watchmen.  Every issue raises the stakes.  Johns is tying up our heroes into a Gordian Knot that seems impossible to untie.  But this makes the story all the more compelling.  Can Johns and Frank succeed?

The answer: Absolutely!

Everything comes down to Superman vs. Dr. Manhattan.  But this is not just a conflict of characters, but a conflict of ideologies and philosophies.

Alan Moore's thesis was that fallen human beings like us should not go around playing hero because our broken nature would only make things worse.  Geoff Johns says that while heroes are not perfect, they are necessary to help people to strive to an ideal.  This is a very Catholic idea and can be found in the veneration of the saints.  Perhaps my analogy is a bit strained here, but I think it is along the same lines.  The saints are not demi-gods.  They are men and women who gave their all to show us a better way.  God allows them to perform miracles so that we look to their moral example.  Johns says that true heroes have been gifted withe extraordinary power to show how to live lives of courage and sacrifice.  You can see this in the relationship of parents to children.  Parents are the idealized heroes to their kids.  Parents give the examples their children need to become the heroes of tomorrow.  Moore gets stuck at the part where we grow up and realize that our parents are just as flawed as we are.  But Johns sees deeper and sees that if our parents raise us in love, we can change the world by giving that love to others.

Ultimately this story is about why Superman matters.  This is a timely discussion as it has been leaked that Warner Bros. doesn't know how to make him relevant.  One of Johns most brilliant writing choices was to remove any interior monologue from Superman.  He is iconic but a little distant.  It's not that he is cold, but that he is far above us.  It is exactly what Steven Spielberg did when he made Lincoln.  He creates a sense of mystery and wonder not at Superman's power, but at his heroic spirit.  We actually end up identifying more with Dr. Manhattan and wonder "How is Superman so good?"

All of this is done in a way that doesn't feel preachy and is integral to the story.  Every issue felt like an event.  Gary Frank's art is some of the best I have ever seen in a comic and that is not hyperbole.  Johns and Frank made sure to make Doomsday Clock first and foremost a compelling story.  And while they were at it, the fathomed the depths of the medium itself.  

Bravo!

Best Single Issue

Doomsday Clock #12

SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ WATCHMEN.

I don't think I anticipated a single issue of a comic like this in a very long time.  Geoff Johns writes in a teleological way, where everything builds to the conclusion.  (Contrast that to the end of Tom King's Batman run which dismissed the end conflict within a few pages).  The two icons of the book (Superman and Dr. Manhattan) finally meet.  At the same time, the world seems to be falling apart around them.  Each page, each panel ratchets up the tension until the moment when Superman charges towards Dr. Manhattan with fire in his eyes.  I remember holding this two page spread open for a few minutes, waiting to turn the page.  I knew that the answer was about to be revealed and I wanted to revel in the journey that brought the story to this point.  I tried to guess at what would happen when I turned the page.  And I knew I would only get one chance to read the finale for the first time.

I turned the page and Geoff Johns and Gary Frank brought the journey full circle and answered the question.  I wrote last year that Johns was trying to write a Gordian knot that seems impossible to untie.  But Johns not only repudiates Alan Moore but pays tribute to him at the same time.  SPOILER AHEAD.  Dr. Manhattan cannot see past his confrontation with Superman.  He believes that this fight will end with either Superman killing him or Dr. Manhattan destroying everything.  There is a line from The Matrix movies that says "No one can see beyond a choice that they do not understand."  That is why Dr. Manhattan is blind.  It is Superman who says, "What if there is a third choice?  That choice makes all the difference.

The issue takes us to the literal darkness of despair and then raises us up to see why comics and why super heroes matter.  Sometimes the most heroic thing is realizing that you aren't the hero, but that you can help someone else become the hero the world needs.  And isn't that what all parents do?

Best Artist

Gary Frank (DOOMSDAY CLOCK)

As I wrote last year:

Gary Frank is one of the best artists working today.

Period.

And when he is paired with Geoff Johns, the two of them make magic.  Their collaborations of Action Comics, Batman: Earth One, DC Universe Rebirth, and SHAZAM! have been incredible.

But Doomsday Clock is on another level.  Frank has the challenge of keeping the look of the book consistent with Dave Gibbons legendary work on Watchmen, while at the same time making it his won.  And dare I say, he has surpassed Gibbons.  Every character panel is filled with character and action.

The long delays in the story were absolutely worth the gorgeous art.  He can take you on a characters complete emotional arch in two panels with how he changes their expression.  And he can set the stage for epic action that will fill the eye with wonder.

RUNNERS UP
Bryan Hitch: Hawkman
Ivan Reis: Superman
Doug Mahnke: Detective Comics
Clay Mann: Heroes in Crisis

Best Writer

Geoff Johns (DOOMSDAY CLOCK, SHAZAM!)

photo from besignyawn

As I wrote last year:

Readers of this blog may be sick of me constantly putting Geoff Johns in the best writer spot, but I refuse to penalize him simply for being so good.


I read one book right after the other and it not only re-affirmed Johns unquestionable talent as a writer, but also his versatility.  His books are diverse in the best possible sense.  Everything Grant Morrision writes feels a little crazy.  Everything Garth Ennis writes feels sadistically violent.  But Johns can write two stories with just as much skill but feel like they were written by totally different writers.

Johns put all of his creative energy, skill, and talent into Doomsday Clock.  It balances the mind-blowing epic scale with the interior personal journey.  The last page and last quote are some of the things I will remember forever from reading comics.

RUNNERS UP
Tom Taylor: DCeased
Peter Tomasi: Detective Comics
Robert Venditti: Hawkman
Frank Miller: Superman - Year One