The House of Flying Scalpels 2012 Awards!

Welcome to my first set of annual comic awards! I would like to thank all fifty of you that participated, and it was an interesting and eye-opening experience for me. It is humbling that you all share your passions with me and each with other. I have never had this deep a level of discussion before and it has made my love for comics all the greater. I shall be sending out pictures of golden scalpels to all the winners (via twitter!). Before I go on too long, lets get on with the winners!

Best Publisher

1. Marvel                  32%

=1. DC

3. Image                     28%

Yeah I know its pretty boring but Marvel & DC had exactly the same votes. I was pretty disappointed because Image were so close! I was really hoping for a climactic finish to put to rest the Marvel vs DC feud, but to be fair this is probably most realistic!

 

Best Mainstream Book

1. Batman                22%

2. Hawkeye                11%

3. Daredevil                 6%

4. Uncanny X-Force 5. Journey Into Mystery 6. Indestructible Hulk 7. Earth 2 8. Batgirl 9. Green Lantern 10. Animal Man.

There was an overwhelming majority for Batman, amongst the 47 different titles nominated in this category! Hawkeye and Daredevil are both brilliant books and sit appropriately behind an incredible DC 52 book.

 

Best Independent Book

1. Saga                             21%

2.  The Walking Dead           8%

3.  Morning Glories               6%

4. Mind MGMT 5. Manhattan Projects 6. Fatale 7. Happy 8. Locke & Guy 9. Monkey Squad One 10. Supercrooks

As Batman in the mainstream section, Saga destroys the field of 60 different books! There has been some incredible competition this year, especially with Image launching numerous successful titles. I was sad not to see Punk Rock Jesus at a higher level but the top ten is a formidable one.

 

Best Character

1. Batman                        12%

2.  Joker                             6%

3.  Cyclops                         5%

4. Kid Loki 5. Deadpool 6. Daredevil 7. Hawkeye 8. Spiderman 9. Alana 10. Damien Wayne

Given the victory in the best mainstream comic, it is not surprisingly that Batman and the Joker appear at the top of the list. I was really pleased  to see Kid Loki so high up, as he is has been incredible this year. Special mention also goes out to Alana, Marko, and Broo, who were all in the top 15 of 68 nominations.

 

Best Writer

1. Scott Snyder             20%

2.  Brian K. Vaughan          7%

3.  Matt Fraction                6%

=3. Rick Remender

5. Geoff Johns 6. Mark Waid 7. Jeff Lemire 8. Gail Simone 9. Jonathon Hickman 10. Kieron Gillen

Batman leads the way again with Saga chasing its heels, a fantastic result considering an independent writer came second in this poll. Matt Fraction and Rick Remender thoroughly deserve their joint third place, with a phenomenal year of work. There were a total of 48 different authors in this category!

 

Best Artist

1. Greg Capullo            15%

2.  David Aja                     7%

3.  Francis Manapul           5%

4. Jerome Opena 5. Fiona Staples 6. JH Williams III 7. Menton3 8. Phil Noto 9. Dexter Soy 10. Jae Lee

Some phenomenal artists have made this list and there is a plethora of pencilling masterpieces. Capullo’s work on Batman, and especially the Joker has been in intoxicating, but I would like to make special mentions to the incredible Menton3 and Fiona Staples in the top ten of 67 nominations.

 

Character we would most like to see die in 2013!

1. Wolverine                  13%

2.  Deadpool                      8%

3.  Spiderman                    5%

=3. Superman

=3. Cyclops

Wolverine has become quite loathed because he is essentially everywhere! It is actually quite ridiculous how he can run a school, lead a black ops death squad and also be part of the Avengers. Marvel seem to market him in too many books making the character overused and poorly appreciated. I agree that there needs to be a break. Aside from Logan, there were a total of 31 nominations including Damien Wayne, Simon Baz, Prince Robot IV, Tim Drake and Kitty Pryde!

 

Character we would most like to date!

    1.

Rogue                            6%

Wonder Woman            6%

Psylocke                        6%

Alana                              6%

Kate Bishop                  6%

Yup there were only three votes each for the above 5 ladies but it is still an impressive equal top five! There was a huge range of 48 love interests in this list, and I believe there were only 5 women nominators in the whole poll, which is a shame. The men voted for on the list were Nightwing, Daken, Marko, Carter and Sinestro! I make special mention of Galactus!

 

Character most likely to win Avengers Arena!

1. X-23                          48%

2. Darkhawk                    18%

3. Hazmat                       8%

It is massively unsurprising that X-23 was to win this, given that she is by far the most recognisable character, but also is a trained killer with a healing power! She is probably least likely to win in reality, which is what this poll nicely demonstrates!

 

Best individual comic of 2012

1. Batman #5               9%

2. Saga #1                      6%

3. Hawkeye #3                6%

4. Batman #13 5. Amazing Spider-man #698 6. Journey Into Mystery #645 7. Amazing Spider-man 700 8. Earth 2 #1 9. Batman & Robin #15 10.Moloch #1.

There were 85 categories in this section, which shows overwhelming variety in people’s opinion. This is a very difficult question to answer and I would like to thank everyone for given it their best. I cannot even begin to praise most of the issues in the top ten as they all surpassed expectations. The top three books alone are all so varied in their art and script, but are so joyful to read again and again. Though joyful is an odd adjective to describe Batman #13!

It is safe to say that Batman and Saga were the favourites of the year in many categories. I know these results may surprise some people and may not surprise others, but one thing is clear: There has been a feast of comic books this year, so many bodies of work to savour, and delectable delights for everyone. Everyone has their own favourites and as much as I write about what I love, other people do too and we need to convert this passion into new readers! I thank you again for your time and hope you enjoyed the findings. Until next year!

(Well not quite, I am writing up some thoughts on the poll, as well as some interesting comments made by you peeps!)