Let’s not consider this a Best of ‘07 list or anything like that. Rather, it’s a bunch of stuff I happened to have read in the last year or so that I realize looking back, I didn’t talk about with you guys as much as I’d have liked to.

Avengers: The Initiative
I still think the overall idea of Civil War was a decent one, even if Millar’s execution was sloppy at best and idiotic at it’s worst, but despite that and the fact that Marvel’s editorial couldn’t even keep events during the crossover straight from one title to the next, the resulting landscape of the Marvel Universe is absolutely different than it was before. A number of interesting books have spun out of the new status quo, but by far the most interesting is The Initiative, a title that blends the classic Marvel “feeling” with the post Civil War MU sensibilities.

Captain America
A few years ago, if you tried to convince just about anyone that re-introducing Bucky to the Marvel U and killing Steve Rogers off was the formula for the greatest Captain America storyline in just about ever, you’d have been met with some serious nerd condescension. Fast forward to, oh, now, and it’s hard to argue against Ed Brubaker’s run on the title. The Omnibus, collecting over 25 issues’ worth of storyline into one glorious book is the best Cap story I’ve ever read, managing to transfer the storytelling sensibilities and style of the Bourne movies to the printed page with remarkable success.

The Goon
What started off years ago as a weird little, self published horror/comedy title has grown into one of the most amazing books published on a semi-regular basis. Not only are the individual issues always a pleasure to read but the one-off Chinatown hardcover treated fans to a pretty neat origin story that they weren’t expecting.

I caught flack for this last time around, but I maintain that Eric Powell has the potential to become the next Will Eisner. Not only is he one of the best artists in the business today, but he’s a more than solid writer as well and arguably the best writer/artist 2-in-1 of the last decade. Choke on that, Roach!

Welcome To Tranquility
I’m as shocked by this as anyone - some random Wildstorm title that has very little to do with the rest of the Wildstorm universe is actually on my “you should try this” list. The horrible cover to the TPB collection aside, Welcome to Tranquility is a surprisingly enjoyable read with a fairly original concept: seems Tranquility is a city in the Wildstorm U where superheroes and super villains alike go to retire once they decide to put their crime fighting/committing days behind them. The high concept is really as simple as that, and when Simone slaps a little murder mystery on top of it, the story moves along at an enjoyably brisk pace.

Sinestro Wars
I’m sure most of you have at least heard about this by now, but considering how under the radar this crossover was when it started, I’m sure there are quite a few people who still haven’t picked it up yet. Forget “Civil War,” “52,” “House of M” or “Countdown” - Geoff Johns and company show comic book readers how to do a superhero event storyline right. “Sinestro Wars” pretty much came out of nowhere and ended up being the best event storyline DC’s put out in over a decade, much like Marvel’s “Planet Hulk.” In fact, considering the amount of promotion neither of them actually received balanced with how genuinely creative and fun both stories were, it’s not a bad comparison at all. The one thing that’s strikingly different about them - “Sinestro Wars” manages to give the reader a totally satisfying ending and takes a breather before heading off into it’s next massive crossover event.

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