Welcome back to our end of the year round-up! The categories haven't changed, but we are giving out something a little different this year to our winners... cuts. That's right, we're jumping you into the Comic Bastards winner circle! You can also listen to the "Best of 2014" podcast episode which is posted at the bottom to hear the entire list, otherwise check back for the next category. Now let's get going with our next category: What Will 2014 Be Remembered For?
Carl - Hype for 2015
2014 sucked and seemed to be a placeholder for us to get excited for all the cool stuff next year.
James - Success of Ms. Marvel
Bringing a Muslim teen to the superhero front was bold. Actually making it good was better. This is one that was done right and really makes a strong statement for diversity.
Andre - Ms. Marvel
While I haven't caught up with the adventures of Khamala Khan, I'm always happy to see her included in promotional material for Marvel's events. G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona did what many people doubted, creating an all new character from a cultural background not often seen in comics, and showing that comic books readers could relate to her just the same, and many now even calling her this generation's Spider-Man.
Nina - Guardians of the Galaxy
Easily the most talked about thing this year. Also: Chris Pratt.
Samantha - Guardians of the Galaxy
Everyone loved this movie. Man, woman, child, and even Dustin! That's gotta count for something.
Steve - Guardians of the Galaxy
Loved this flick, and it is by far the one thing most people will associate with comics in 2014.
Neil - Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel rolled the dice on a very obscure group of heroes and the film made a huge amount of money for Marvel movies. It raises the question. Can Marvel movies do no wrong?
Nick - Lady Thor/Black Cap/Guardians of the Galaxy Movie
This was a year that Marvel killed it. Their movies were good, their TV was alright, and they shook up the Avengers in a positive way (adding diversity, largely) and not "Oh look, LEX LUTHOR is in the Justice League now, for some reason!" <--Dark Reign, except half-assed?
David - The Year That 'Cinematic Universes' Got Serious.
By the end of 2013 we'd seen The Avengers assemble on screen, and a reimagined Superman kick-off DC's universe - but 2014 was the year things got serious. First, you had DC announce a gazillion movies for their line which included the likes of The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman and a re-booted Green Lantern. And later we had the Earth-shattering press conference in which Marvel announced 'Phase 3' of their universe which will see Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange making their big-screen debuts among many others. Why are these announcements so significant? Because the one thing they have in common is that they've set the course for nearly a decade of blockbuster cinema. And that's not even considering FOX's X-Men universe, Sony's Spider-Man universe, and Universal's Monster movie universe! Yes, I think it's fair to say that 2014 was the year that the cinematic universe took centre stage.
Kevin - Killing Archie
Let's face it; he had it coming for a while now. Pick a girl already!
Austin - King Kirby
Though it's a small step in the grand scheme of comic book legal fuckery, Marvel finally settled its dispute with the Kirby family, and you will now find his name emblazoned in the credits of any books containing the characters he helped create. All hail the one true king, Jack Kirby.
Dustin - Diversity... Kind of
I'd love to stay that it was the wholehearted attempt at diversifying comics, but I think that the majority of it was done by the "big two" as sales gimmicks. I look at more of what Image and Boom did to bring diversity to comics this year and that's what I'll remember. Not something that will fade in interest due to the way it was presented to the audience, though if I'm wrong we all still win.
Jeff - Women: or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Just Threaten to Kill People Who Disagree With Me
A conversation that got started in 2013 has turned the internet into an ideological warzone. From GamerGate, to death threats against Anita Sarkeesian, to the near constant grumbling about Lady Thor and female led superhero movies, we're finally talking about women in geek media. And that's good. Just, you know, not this way. It's frankly embarrassing to be a part of a community whose most vocal members seem to not see new frontiers but rather trenches to defend, making asses out of themselves and polarizing good conversations. I see 2014 as a good year for women in geek media, but you know, in a 'well we can only build up from this mess right?' kind of way.