This time of year is ripe for reflection on the past 365 days. There are “best of” columns everywhere you look, with opinions being thrown out right and left. So one more attempt to sway your thinking in a certain direction certainly won’t be ill-received… right?

Well, in that case, here are my selections for the best, worst, weirdest and most interesting comic book happenings from 2004. Keep in mind that this is only opinion, not fact, and is based only on comics I’ve actually read with a 2004 cover date.

Let’s start on a positive: Best Comic Book Moment of 2004. For me, it has to be in JSA #55 (Feb 04). Yes, it’s a holiday story from last Christmas, but it was still the best single-issue story of the year. The JSA pay a visit to Ma Hunkel, formerly the original Red Tornado, now a department-store Santa. It’s a touching, nostalgic romp filled with warmth and humor. When Wildcat (Ted Knight) makes a crack about Ma’s helmet she wore in costume, she quips, “Used to cook quite a stew in that pot….feet off the table, Teddy.”

The veteran heroes reminisce, talk about family, and enjoy a quiet holiday evening together as friends. And Ma? Well, she accepts a position as the curator of the JSA museum….a job which affords her the opportunity to serve as surrogate mother to Power Girl and the new Star Spangled Kid. It’s a win-win situation, and this issue is a sure-fire winner as well.

On the flip side, Worst Comic Book Moment of 2004: the Avengers Disassembled storyline. Let’s take the world’s greatest heroes, heroes of stature and experience, heroes who have gone toe-to-toe with the Kree, Skrulls, Kang, Ultron, and other examples of the worst and most dangerous villains in the Marvel Universe, and have their entire lives and careers decimated by a single second-rater like the Scarlet Witch. Then Dr. Strange has to explain what happened with her magic, for like, half of issue 503. Finally, Beast asks the pithy question: “But why is she attacking the Avengers?” Strange’s reply: “I don’t know;” which is precisely what I say when people ask me why readers bought these books. Pathetic.

Let’s get back to something worthwhile… Best Comic Book That Nobody’s Talking About: Bullseye: Greatest Hits. Writer Daniel Way has crafted a comic that is intelligent and gripping…with little-to-no action. The story centers around two government special agents who must get some information from an incarcerated Bullseye. They use clever psychological tricks to get the villain to talk about his past and hopefully divulge the necessary information. What unfolds is a tight history of one of Marvel’s most under-utilized and scariest evil-doers. Combine a page-turner of a story with Mike Deodato Jr.’s intense cover art and you get one of the top books of the year.

Outstanding Achievement of 2004 is, hands-down, in the possession of Dave Sim. His remarkable self-published, uninterrupted 300-issue run of Cerebus the Aardvark ended in 2004. Sim’s record set the bar for self-publishers everywhere, not only in terms of longevity, but also in the areas of storytelling and artwork. Six thousand pages and 26 years is quite a benchmark, but the consistant quality of work and the threading together of plot points, some from years and years before, remain the hallmarks of this series. Cerebus isn’t just the story of an aardvark…it is biting commentary of religion, politics, relationships and life. It is the story of everyman, and a story that every man should own.

Best New Character of 2004: Black Alice, from the Birds of Prey series. Yes, I know, she appeared first in Birds of Prey #76, with a January ’05 cover date, but she caused such a stink in 2004, I’m willing to overlook this minor detail. Sheesh!

Anyway, it isn’t often that a new character emerges with such a positive reaction from fans, but writer Gail Simone’s Alice has done just that. With powers that allow her to tap magic from other arcane heroes, Alice can mimic such luminaries as Zatanna, the entire Marvel Family, including Black Adam, and Dr. Fate. Theoretically, she could be one of the most powerful folks in the DC Universe, and whether she will use her abilities for good or bad is yet to be decided. She’s apparently under the tutelage of Dr. Fate now, but with his background, that may not be such a positive influence.

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Best Writer of 2004. This was an incredibly difficult category to judge for me. There were many, many outstanding writers that created work in 2004. Brian Michael Bendis’ work on the Ultimates line for Marvel was consistently top-notch. Kurt Busiek’s JLA, Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey, Greg Rucka’s run on Adventures of Superman and Wonder Woman, Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, Mark Waid’s Fantastic Four….all are worthy of the accolades and fan-support they have generated. But my vote goes to Geoff Johns, writer of Flash, JSA, Teen Titans and Green Lantern: Rebirth. While the other writers on my list above each did outstanding things on their individual titles, Johns did yeoman duty on four different titles, kept each in continuity, re-defined characters in each, including revamping the entire Rogues’ Gallery of the Flash making them more intelligent and deadly, and by these acts, proved he is the best writer of superhero comics working in the field today.

And finally, a few quick-picks:

• Coolest Cover: Identity Crisis #2 by Michael Turner
• Outstanding Artist: John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary)
• Outstanding Comic-Related Publication: Anything by Two Morrows Publishing, such as Jack Kirby Collector, Alter Ego, or Back Issue.
• Best Graphic Novel or Reprint Collection: The Golden Age of DC Comics: 365 Days by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear
• Best Action Figure Line: (tie) Marvel Legends, DC Direct
• Best Marketing of Comics: Marvel Comics, in getting their recent collected books into mainstream stores such as Target, thus opening the door for new readership.