2008 In Review
Where has the time gone? Let's briefly glance back, hitting the highlights and lowlights of the past twelve months.
In comics, Marvel showed their true "family values" by allowing eternal fratboy Joe Quesada to magically nullify the twenty-year marriage of Peter "Spider-Man" Parker and Mary Jane Watson. In the same universe, Bucky Barnes had a successful year as the new Captain America, and the Red Hulk of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuiness reigned supreme. Over at DC, Silver Age Flash Barry Allen gave up his title as the Most Famous Superhero To Stay Dead -- thanks to writer Grant Morrison, who had a banner year with the award-winning All Star Superman and the controversial Batman R.I.P. Frequent collaborator Frank Quitely was among the most influential artists of the year, along with Leinil Francis Yu and Gary Frank. And EM's own Brent Sprecher got his first comic miniseries, Bluewater's Spaced Out. On a sadder note, we said goodbye to legends Michael Turner, Dave Stevens and Steve Gerber.
The Man of Steel proved that hitting the big Seven-Oh is no reason to slow down, and co-creator Jerry Siegel demonstrated that death needn't stand in the way, either. Novelist Brad Meltzer led a campaign to restore Siegel's childhood home, and the late writer's family at last reclaimed co-ownership of Superman. Clark Kent's fictional dad, Jonathan, was voted comicdom's father of the year before kicking the bucket, just as hundreds of thousands of Kryptonians immigrated to Earth.
In gaming, Warhammer continued to be an unstoppable juggernaut, but D&D founder Gary Gygax did not.
Three words summed up comic book cinema in '08: The Dark Knight. Batman had the best opening weekend ever and raked in $500+ million domestically, plus nearly double that worldwide. It was a bittersweet victory for the late Heath Ledger, unable to enjoy the biggest hit of his too-short career. Not so bitter was the astonishing comeback of Robert Downey, Jr, whose Iron Man took the #2 comic-to-film spot. And the indie darling Persepolis grabbed an Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature. But they couldn't all be hits: writer-director Frank Miller could've used the help of mentor Robert Rodriguez on The Spirit, 20th Century Fox wants to keep Watchmen out of theaters, and Justice League was the most high-profile nonstarter of the year.
Moviegoers also got a mixed bag in text-novel adaptations. Twilight was a monster hit for about two weeks -- and then it was gone. But that's more than could be said of the unexpectedly-delayed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And The Chronicles of Narnia series may be dead after only two films, since Disney dropped the property like a stinky lion carcass.
Whether in movies or on television, Hollywood demonstrated its ongoing fear of originality by delaying flicks like Fanboys (again), killing wonderful shows like Eli Stone, and churning out more sequels and remakes than you could count. Other than the moderately-successful Prom Night, the results have been dismal: Bionic Woman was deactivated after eight episodes, Knight Rider needed more than a new paintjob, The Mummy wrapped up quickly, no one believed in The X-Files, and The Day The Earth Stood Still was Opening Day.
Almost as if to remind us all what makes a great genre film, the Library of Congress's National Film Registry included 1984's The Terminator and 1933's The Invisible Man among its 25 newest selections.
Some of the industry's human casualties -- such as makeup deity Stan Winston -- were surprises, while animation pioneers Bill Melendez and Ollie Johnson signed off after careers spanning most of the twentieth century. We also bid farewell to feminine icons Bettie Page and Vampira as well as novelists Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton.
The biggest newsmakers of the year, comic-collecting President-elect Barack Obama and too-scary-to-be-a-comic-villain Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, both got their own comic books. And the Internet Obsession of 2008 was, believe it or not, Britney Spears.
Happy 2009.
[Thanks to VERNE KOPYTOFF of the San Francisco Chronicle, Mania's CHAD DERDOWSKI, Sci Fi Wire and Comic Book Resources.]