Well, we haven't received any really good ideas for the names. There were a few that I liked, but I don't think they were quite good enough to be a good name, or they were something that, should we decide to do this again next year, would make any sense for next year's awards. So, at this point, the name of the awards is still to be determined. I still had to make up some graphics, though.

That's right--your favorite comic could win a coveted TBD Award! In fact, you could help it win! Just submit your votes in the following categories to awards@fanboycomics.biz, or fill out one of our handy paper ballots we'll have available in the store. You don't have to vote in every category, but that's not discouraged, either. Here are the categories available for voting:

Best Cover - The issue with the best cover art released in 2006.
Best New Comic Series - Best series beginning in 2006; i.e., issue #1 was published sometime in 2006.
Best Single Issue - The best single comic issue released in 2006.
Best Miniseries - The best miniseries of 2006. At least half of the issues of the miniseries must have been published in 2006.
Best Story Arc - The best story arc in an ongoing series of 2006. At least half of the issues of the story arc must have been published in 2006.
Best Ongoing Series - The best ongoing comic series (i.e., not a miniseries) of 2006.
Best Moment - The best moment in any comic where you just went, "That was awesome."
Best Original Graphic Novel - The best graphic novel composed of material not originally released in individual issues.
Best Collection - Best collection of material previously released in individual issues.
Best Comic-Based Movie/DVD/TV Show - Pretty much anything you care about that can somewhat fit in this category. I'm not going to be too strict about it.
Best Indie Comic - The best independent comic book published in 2006. Indie is defined as not published by Marvel, DC, Image or Dark Horse.
Best Hero - The best comic book hero of 2006, by whatever criteria you deem proper.
Best Villain - The best comic book villain of 2006, by whatever criteria you deem proper.
Best Comic Babe - The best comic book babe of 2006, by whatever criteria you deem proper. I guess women can send in their votes for hot guys or whatever. THE THINGS I DO FOR FEMINISM.
Best Artist - The best comic artist of 2006.
Best Writer - The best comic writer of 2006.
Best Roleplaying Game Product - The best product released for any roleplaying game or system in 2006.
Best Card Game Product - The best product released for any card game in 2006.
Best Miniatures Product - The best product released for any miniatures game in 2006.

Alright, now that we've got the categories established and hopefully well defined, let's see those votes! To give you an idea of some of the awesome stuff that came out in 2006, the Fanboy Comics staff has all made their selections and we will be revealing them week by week until the final votes are tallied. This week, Thomas is revealing his choices.

You may know Thomas as the owner of Fanboy Comics, but what do you really know about him? Well, you can tell a lot about a person by the comics they like. Maybe that's even true! Either way, here's a rundown of Thomas's picks for the best comics and games of 2006:

The Thing #8

art by
Andrea Di Vito

Honorable Mention: 52 Week 1, Dr. Strange: The Oath #1, 52 Week 16

Fell

written by
Warren Ellis
art by
Ben Templesmith

Thomas Writes: "All one-shot stories. A must read."

Honorable Mention: X-Factor

Amazing Spider-Man #533

written by
J. Michael Straczynski
art by
Ron Garney

Thomas Writes: "I've been reading Amazing Spider-Man all my life waiting for a moment like this. Wow, what an intense issue. It also balanced very well with some of the reactions to the unmasking of Spider-Man."

Honorable Mention: Detective Comics #826

52

written by
Geoff Johns
Grant Morrison
Greg Rucka
Mark Waid

art by
Joe Bennett
Chris Batista
Keith Giffen
Ruy Jose
Jad Jackson

covers by
J.G. Jones

Thomas Writes: "Yes, I know, this should probably not be considered a mini series since it will probably last a lot longer than most new series this year. I love this book, it's usually one of the first things I read ever week. Do yourself a favor and pick it up."

Honorable Mention: Secret Six

The Incredible Hulk #92-95
"Planet Hulk: Exile"

written by
Greg Pak
art by
Carlo Pagulayan

Thomas Writes: "Hulk SLASH! This should also win the award for most improved book of the year." [Editor's note: There is no award for most improved book. I guess if we had one, Incredible Hulk could win it, though.]

X-Factor

written by
Peter David
art by
Ryan Sook
Dennis Calero

Honorable Mention: Girls, Invincible, Y: The Last Man, Fables, Godland

The Walking Dead #33

written by
Robert Kirkman
art by
Charlie Adlard

Thomas Writes: "This is the torture issue. Probably one of the most hardcore things I've ever seen in a comic. Not for the easily grossed out."

Honorable Mention: Amazing Spider-Man #533

Pride of Baghdad

written by
Brian K. Vaughan
art by
Niko Henrichon

Black Hole Hardcover

by
Charles Burns

Honorable Mention: Absolute DC: The New Frontier

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Mouse Guard

by
David Petersen
published by
Archaia Studios Press

Honorable Mention: The Killer (Archaia Studios Press)

Spider-Man

Thomas Writes: "The Civil War and Amazing Spider-Man issues where he struggles to decide the right path are some of the best parts of the Civil War books."

The Joker

Thomas Writes: "Read Detective Comics #826 then try to say I'm wrong."

The Girls

from Girls
by
The Luna Brothers

Thomas Writes: "Probably not the best comic babe of 2006, but you have got to read this book. It's one of my top ten favorite books to read each month."

Steve McNiven
(Civil War)

Honorable Mention: Darwyn Cook (Batman/Spirit), Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead), Darick Robertson (The Boys)

Warren Ellis
(Fell, Down, Desolation Jones, Ocean, Planetary)

Honorable Mention: Grant Morrison, Ed Brubaker, Robert Kirkman, Garth Ennis, Brian K. Vaughan, Brian Michael Bendis, Judd Winick

(ORGAN MUSIC ENDS)

Please rise, and open your hymnal to page 219, "Spider-Man Theme."

(SINGING)
Spiderman, Spiderman,
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Spiderman.

Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread
Take a look overhead
Hey, there
There goes the Spiderman.

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.

Spiderman, Spiderman
Friendly neighborhood Spiderman
Wealth and fame
He's ingnored
Action is his reward.

To him, life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Spider man.
(SINGING ENDS)

Good morning, all.  Good to see you here.  Today I'll be pontificating on one of the most pressing issues of our church: that of deity supremacy.  As you know, the supreme being of our church is the one who could beat all comers in a fight.  Power is might, and might makes right, can I get an X-MEN?

(CHORUS OF X-MENS)

Amen, indeed.  Well, recently, we've had a bit of a theological uprising in some sects of our religion, with some arising that cast doubt on the almighty Wolverine's supremacy over the universe.

(BOOS)

I know, I know, but I believe we must analyze our texts before we retcon the heretic out of the church.  Please, turn in your Continuity Bible to the Gospel According to Perry, Chapter 4, Verse 22:

²²First off, I have to say that God would be the winner ²³but now I've got to explain it! ²⁴If God were to shoot Wolverine with lightning, then Wolverine would heal, ²⁵so God has to have a hail storm and imprison him in hail, which might work. ²⁶If that doesn't work God could have an earthquake and caused a cliff to be created. ²⁷Then He would have a hurricane to blow him off the cliff and let Wolverine fall ²⁸and would lose the fight. ²⁹All of this could of happened if Wolverine was real and God was angry. 

Now, one might say that the apostle Perry here casts his lot in with God, but that's just what the heretical theologians want you to believe!  If you look closely, Perry says, "Then He would have a hurrican to blow him off the cliff and let Wolverine fall and would lose the fight."  That's right, it does not say that Wolverine would lose the fight, it says that God would!  And I will brook no discussion of a typographical error can I get an X-MEN?

(CHORUS OF X-MENS)

Now, if you'll turn to the Book of Mike, Chapter 16, Verse 1, read along with me:

¹cripes and i thought when he threatened the president it was bad . ²OK all depending on the wolverine depends on how this fight works out. ³Best 2 out of three as it were.

⁴fight one
⁵Standard Wolverine.

⁶Wolverine gets angry with his lot in life ⁷challenges the man who made it like it was. ⁸God for the most part remains above it all and ignores wolverine's cry. ⁹Wolverine gets pissed and goes to pick a fight with cyclops. ¹⁰Winner God.

¹¹Round 2
¹²Marvel mangaverse wolverine

¹³wolverine simply states the abstractness of the God ¹⁴as being the one true and states ¹⁵that God only exists in the hearts of his believers ¹⁶and therefor has no power nor such over those who have no such belief. ¹⁷he then goes to meditate in a Shinto shrine and God once more does nothing. ¹⁸Winner Shinto mangaverse wolverine.

¹⁹Round 3
²⁰8 year old 90's perspective of wolverine

²¹"What are you freaking talking about wolverine is God!!" ²²winner....Ah who the heck cares anymore.

²³Basically the combat came to nothing . ²⁴God would have to wipe out the entire marvel comics business in order to kill wolverine properly . And all you need for wolverine to beat God is a shoddy crossover with battle pope . ²⁵So for ease of victory one would have to go with wolverine overall. 

Can I get an X-MEN?

(CHORUS OF X-MENS)

Now I've got one final passage to pontificate upon, this one from the Revelation to Grimes, Chapter 3, Verse 9:

⁹God wins easy. ¹⁰Unless this fight happens in a Marvel Comic. ¹¹Which means Brian Bendis would probably write it, ¹²and Spiderman and Dare Devil would show up to help Wolervine. ¹³Bendis would probably realize that they would not be enough, and add the Sentry and 20 Clors to the group, ¹⁴because Brad Meltzer got to with Red Tornado, to even things out. ¹⁵Wolverine would win after being completely vaporized, ¹⁶and regenerating. ¹⁷Pissing off fans of continuity. ¹⁸And there would still be someone out there that says Bendis is the greatest writer today. 

Now Grimes radically poses the existence of a world existing outside of continuity, but he does concede that in Marvel continuity Wolverine is the victor!  I would say that the prophet Grimes here is the winner in this week's sermon.  Now, for our benediction.

May Stan Lee bless you and keep you
And make his face shine upon you
Forever and ever
Until the next editorial shake-up
Excelsior!

We've got refreshments in the Danger Vestibule, and I hope to see you at next week's sermon, "Who would in in a fight,

Arcade

or

Forearm

Send in your responses to fanboyfights@fanboycomics.biz!

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Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp

Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Shawn McManus
Colorist: Mike Atiyeh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

So far in 2007, there is no other book that screams "instant buy!" quite like this one-shot issue of Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp. Cover monkeys are enough, but a monkey with a magnifying class and the Doctor Fate helmet? Done deal. This simian sleuth has been around since the 1950s, but his story was more fully fleshed out in the 2005 Infinite Crisis-tie in series, Day of Vengeance. While I had originally opted out of all that DC Comics major-event business, after reading this issue I definitely plan to go back to the Day of Vengeance mini, if for nothing else to read more about the diminutive dick. In the hands of Fables master Bill Willingham, Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp #1 is the most fun you'll have with a comic book so far this year.

This issue opens with some scene setting after Dr. Fate was killed in Day of Vengeance. The original Dr. Fate, Kent Nelson (AKA Nabu), passes the yellow helmet to Detective Chimp (member of the Shadowpact) for safekeeping. He allowed Captain Marvel to toss the helmet into space so that a new bearer could be chosen by the helmet itself. Until that happens, the chimp takes the case of four dead neophyte superheroes in a hotel room. True to his rep, Detective Chimp solves the case in no time flat. Simultaneously, the helmet has returned to Earth and morphed into the perfect shape for snugly fitting on the melon of a monkey. Detective Chimp's new powers (and awkward mini-Fate costume) are seductive, and while he does some good as the bearer of the powers, the duties are too overwhelming.

My biggest complaint with this issue and is that it's only 23 pages and is relegated to being a one-shot. That makes cosmic sense; the fun stories being too short and the lame series continue on for umpteen issues. Is there no justice in the world? Bill Willingham turns in energized writing with great fits of humor and action. This is more of a thinking story with pretty pictures, and the fun is in watching how Detective Chimp solves his case. Although the character is completely new to me, Willingham manages to make his narration engaging and witty, rather than heavy and ham-handed. It's a light book, and Willingham respects that while squeezing out as much joy as possible.

Shawn McManus' art is as strong as Willingham's writing. He has a strong grasp of the cosmic (something Rob Leifeld could learn) and wide-lens visual storytelling. Each page is packed, and the images breathlessly move from the banal to the active. Mike Atiyeh's color work is as exciting, since the Chimp's adventures careen from caves to police stations to the seediness of the Oblivion Bar.

Hey, DC: Get Detective Chimp and Bill Willingham together again. Comics need this team.

RATING: 5/5

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Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between #1

Writer: David Tischman
Artist: Casey Maloney
Colorist: Leonard O'Grady
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $3.99

For being a small publisher, IDW Publishing has done a fine job of grabbing up plenty of television/film/video game franchises for comic adaptation: Angel, CSI, Metal Gear Solid, Spike, Silent Hill, Transformers. The latest, and most unexpected addition to this impressive list is the Star Trek franchise. Why unexpected? The films are in a state of rejuvenating stasis, the last televised series evaporated into obscurity, and there are video games, but who's playing them? Star Trek is, for now, in a pop-funk. It'll surely come back one day, but for now, and for the die hard fans out there, this new six-issue miniseries is the first of many new titles to come and should bring back the warm memories of the ST: TNG series without breaking new ground.

This mini, entitled The Space Between, is a standard TNG tale that features all the classic characters in all their familiar visages (including security officer Tasha Yar, which means that this series takes place during the show's first season, before Tasha Yar was killed). For fans that are looking for a comic story that'll be canonical, this story delivers. Rather than deviating from the familiar tropes and narrative conceits of the show, writer David Tischman stays completely faithful to the show. Picard and his crew travel to the technologically advanced planet of Tigan due to the planet's recent exchanges with the Federation. The Enterprise crew is sent as emissaries. While Commander Riker, Data (with his robotic one-liners in tact), and Tasha Yar beam down to establish communications, the Enterprise is attacked by a Tigan weapon. With Picard and Worf dealing with the ship, the crew on the planet must find a way to outwit the Tigan politicians who have abused the technology of which they're so proud.

The issue is like the perfect adaptation of a series one-hour episode. The characterizations are there (including a sub-plot with Data, echoing events from the film Star Trek: First Contact) and recognizable, so there's isn't much additional building. In fact, this issue delivers in every expected way that it is, at moments, a let down. Tischman and artist Casey Maloney, in their respect for the series, don't inject new life. The dialogue is very script-like, the art workmanlike (although Riker looks too much like a freshman member of the Young Republicans). With the art, the level of detail and action in some panels makes this look like an issue from the majors, but in others the quality is severely lacking and amateurish.

While this is a respectable first entry in a new Star Trek comic era, there's still lots of room for growth. I'll be holding out for the Klingon series that IDW is promising...

RATING: 3/5

---

Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predators

Writer: Mark Schultz
Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Publisher: DC Comics/Dark Horse Comics
Price: $5.99

Here we are with the latest dispatch from the clearly-unnecessary-and-certain-to-produce-revenue department: a two-issue (maxi-priced) crossover with the top two DC Comics ad men and Dark Horse Comics' two most viable sci-fi properties. In past crossovers and solo adventures, Superman has taken on the Aliens (on an alien planet) and Batman has battled with Predator hunters. Both heroes didn't come out of their confrontations unscathed, and this new book has a memory for those past adventures. What it doesn't have is a worthy conflict for the titular combatants. What's left after this fight is, well, not much of a fight, but a whole lot of momentum-killing chit-chat, and an ultimate solution that's undermined by those damned, dirty, warring earthlings.

The first problem here is: what could possibly happen? There's no way that Aliens or Predators (how come they never received more specific names?) could take out Superman. Batman maybe, but Kal-El shouldn't have a problem here. And he doesn't, so the conflict rests elsewhere. This is first thing you may think after opening to the first page (and especially if you've seen the dreadful crapfest that was AvP): They've adapted the storyline from that "film." Don't worry, not (entirely) the case. In this book, a Predator clan has been marooned on Earth for thousands of years, relegated to live inside a Volcano since they hate the cold (for some reason, they crashed into the Andes Mountains and had to stay there). As is their tradition, they keep some Alien eggs with them for the occasional maturity-building hunt. Batman has been tracing a group of Predator hunters from Gotham, and Superman is with Lois Lane as they follow up on the story of a science expedition that disappeared near the above-mentioned volcano. It isn't long before the two heroes make contact, Batman pulls a C-3P0-as-Ewok-god on the Predators (there are a few odd Star Wars moments-perhaps Dark Horse is required to work the Star Wars license into all of their books?), and Superman ultimately figures out a way to save earth from the ugly Predator and Alien creeps.

While there are attempts at the continuity created in the past crossover books, this story exists outside of the current DC timeline. As well it should; this story isn't to be taken too seriously. It's just for the pure enjoyment of the storytelling, which for the most part, gets the job done. Mark Schultz isn't breaking any ground here-it's all pretty formulaic. There's a lot of talking and the action sequences are too brief. Through Batman's intervention, the Predator characters are rather quickly emasculated and they're not as scary as they were on film. And surprisingly, the Aliens are relegated to supporting characters. Superman fights them, but it's quick and not much of a fight. The book tends to feel like a series of missed opportunities, but the flourishes of fun are hard to resist.

The real saving grace of this story is Ariel (Punisher: War Journal) Olivetti's art. The digital painting style is smooth and richly textured. There isn't a large amount of detail, but the colors are expressive and every panel has a glossy, cared-for feel. The art makes things more cinematic in scope, and Batman's special armor in this book is an ensemble he should don more often. It's way tougher than a blue cape.

It's a fun book, and that's all it should be. It just could've been more fun, and a whole lot more gruesome. When I think about where these two sci-fi franchises began, it was in a much more violent and visceral place. Stories like this crossover stories have stolen their edge, and they're losing their horror-cool.

RATING: 3/5