While the end of the year is usually all about the good, we here at Comic Bastards like to also remember... well the worst of year as well. That's right, we've given you the best and handed out our cuts, but now we're handing out golden eggs to our worst picks of 2014. Why a golden egg? Well take a look at the big ass eagle logo on the side and you can put the pieces together. Now let's dive into our next category: Most Annoying Industry Habit of 2014.
Kevin - Sexual harassment in Comics
Simply embarrassing and inexcusable.
Dustin - Men Not Sharing Their Media Because They Think They Own It
As a white male I find it incredibly frustrating to be represented on the internet by a bunch of fucking idiots that don't feel that other genders or nationalities should A) be represented in their favorite medium and B) can talk about the fundamental problems with that thinking. This isn't something that I run around with on a shirt, but growing up one of my favorite characters was Luke Cage. Couldn't get enough of him, literally because he wasn't used until Bendis ruined his character and now I can't stand the guy because he's unrecognizable. Again, white male, liked Luke Cage growing up. Now all my favorite creators are women and people think they can treat them like shit. You could be a green skinned transgender from planet butthole and I'll welcome you to enjoy comics and other nerd media with open arms.
Steve - Pandering
Whether it's from comics journalism outlets or from creators themselves, bullshit posturing, "white knighting" and exclusionary cronyism are all rife under this umbrella of pandering that is really hurting the industry.
David - High Prices + Double Shipping = David is Sad
So I'm very vocal about how much I hate the thought of comics being bumped up to $3.99 or even $4.99 in some cases. But ultimately I could maybe (just maybe) stomach the cost of a book, if it wasn't coming out two or three times a month! There are so many books that I wanted to read that I couldn't this year, because the fact that they were coming out twice a month just made them too expensive for me. From this year's Black Widow and All-New Ghost Rider to last year's Avengers, Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men - I'm missing out on a lot of comics because of double shipping and I'm not happy about it. Sure it moves the story along quicker, but it also takes my money quicker and I didn't have a lot of it to start off with.
James - The Freaking $5.00 Comic
Peter Parker's return and Wolverine's demise dropped in at $4.99. Then AXIS #1 gave us crap at a inflated price. What the hell Marvel? Chill already.
Carl - The abundance of books with a lack of quality
Jeff - Event Stacking
The Editors of the Big Two seem to have some sort of suicide pact for the industry, like they both hate their jobs but also want to be the last people to have their job. It's a mess and if there is a conspicuous lack of Marvel or DC books in any of my lists it’s because for the most part I'm not reading them. 'Cept 'Batman'. Scott Snyder is killing it on 'Batman'.
Neil - Event Books
Event books have lost all meaning. There was a time when they were special and the event sticked for a while. Now they feel like a cash grab. Can we get at least two years of stories without a major event shaking things up.
Austin - Pop Journalism
Pieces have been popping up here and there recently as some people turn a critical but non-sexist eye towards things like video game and comic book journalism. Most of the outlets, shifting to meet demand, have really leaned heavily on covering casting announcements and movie trailers, while aligning themselves with the Big Two. Over a decade ago, the outlets winning Eisners for being the best comic publications were really lifting the medium up and writing substantial pieces of art criticism. I vote we return to something like that and not let our journalism get as oversaturated as our comics. And let's stop asking incredibly talented independent creators which fucking superhero they want to write or draw, please.
Samantha - Casting/Movie Rumors
So annoying seeing someone different and then the worst guy is picked. All of these Spider-Man, Venom, Spider-Woman, and shit show movie rumors need to stop.
Nick - "Now, the GOOD guys are the BAD guys! MORALITY QUANDRY." See also: AXIS, JUSTICE LEAGUE. FOREVER EVIL. ETC.
Kevin is actually probably right.