CGS BEST OF 2007 NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED!

The end of the year has come and gone, so that means it's time for the annual CGS Best Of awards! We've compiled the Speakers of Geeks' nominations for each category along with the most popular suggestions from the listeners and now it's time to put it all to the final vote! Send your choice from each category below by February 2 to peter@comicgeekspeak.com. One submission per person! Thanks!

BEST OF 2007 NOMINATIONS:

BEST NEW HERO OR TEAM:
Kazuhiko Amamiya (MPD Psycho, Dark Horse)
Orson Randall (Immortal Iron Fist, Marvel)
Avengers Initiative (Marvel)
the Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)
Dynamo 5 (Image)
Renee Montoya as the new Question (52, DC)
Thor (Marvel)

BEST NEW VILLAIN OR TEAM:
the Hood's Organization (New Avengers, Marvel)
Mr. Mind as a Hyper-Fly (52, DC)
new Injustice League of America (Justice League of America, DC)
Sinestro Corps (Green Lantern, DC)
Red Crow (Scalped, Vertigo)

BEST NEW COMIC:
Booster Gold (DC)
Thor (Marvel)
Scalped (Vertigo)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 (Dark Horse)

BEST LIMITED SERIES:
White Picket Fences (Ape Entertainment)
Black Adam: the Dark Age (DC)
Fallen Son: the Death of Captain America (Marvel)
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (Dark Horse)
Nightly News (Image)
Annihilation Conquest: Star Lord (Marvel)
Freddy vs Jason vs Ash (Wildstorm)
Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better (Marvel)

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR ONE-SHOT
52 #37 (DC)
Punks the Comic Summer Special (Digital Webbing Presents)
Fantastic Four: Isla De La Muerte (Marvel)
Moonstone's Holiday Super Spectacular (Moonstone)
Green Lantern #25 (DC)
Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special (DC)


BEST CLIFFHANGER OR MOMENT:
Mr. Mind revealed as the villain (52 #51, DC)
Death of Captain America (Captain America 25, Marvel)
the end of Strangers of Paradise (Abstract Studios)
Warren Mears returns (Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3, Dark Horse)
the Sinestro Corps Guardians and Heralds revealed (Sinestro Corps Special, DC)

BEST STORYLINE IN A SERIES OR MULTIPLE SERIES:
"the Death of the Dream", Captain America 25-30 (Marvel)
"the Last Iron Fist Story", Immortal Iron Fist 1-6 (Marvel)
"Escape from Bizarro World", Action Comics 855-857 (DC)
"Sinestro Corps War", Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps/Tales of the Sinestro Corps (DC)
"the Good Prince", Fables 60-68 (Vertigo)

BEST SLEEPER OR SURPRISE HIT:
Scalped (Vertigo)
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (Dark Horse)
Captain America (Marvel)
Sinestro Corp War crossover (DC)
Thor (Marvel)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 (Dark Horse)
Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel)
the Spirit (DC)
Booster Gold (DC)

BEST ONGOING COMIC:
Fables (Vertigo)
the Lone Ranger (Dynamite Entertainment)
Justice Society of America (DC)
Green Lantern (DC)
Casanova (Image)
Captain America (Marvel)
Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel)

BEST REPRINT COLLECTION:
Immortal Iron Fist: the Last Iron Fist Story HC (Marvel)
Superman: The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen vol.1 (DC)
Captain America Omnibus vol.1 (Marvel)
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus collections (DC)
Elk's Run complete (Villard)
Essential Moon Knight vol.2 (Marvel)
Mouse Guard Fall 1152 HC (Archaia Studio Press)
the Absolute Sandman HC vol. 2 (Vertigo)

BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL
the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier (America's Best Comics)
Jetta, Tales of the Toshigawa: Revelations (MAW Productions)
Essex County vol.1: Tales from the Farm (Top Shelf)
the Professor's Daughter (First Second)
Awesome! the Indie Spinner Rack Anthology (Evil Twin)

BEST PUBLICATION ABOUT COMICS (print only):
Back Issue! the Ultimate Comics Experience (TwoMorrows)
the Overstreet Price Guide (Gemstone)
Image Comics: the Road to Independence (TwoMorrows)
Comics Buyers Guide (Krause)
Comics Gone Ape! the Missing Link to Primates in Comics (TwoMorrows)

BEST WRITER:
Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, Booster Gold, Justice Society of America, 52)
Bill Willingham (Fables, Jack of Fables, Shadowpact)
Matt Fraction (Immortal Iron Fist, the Order, Punisher War Journal)
Ed Brubaker (Captain America)

BEST ARTIST:
Dale Eaglesham (Justice Society of America)
Marko Djurdjevic (Daredevil)
Ethan Van Sciver (Sinestro Corps Special, Green Lantern)
Mark Buckingham (Fables)
George Perez (Brave and the Bold)
Mike Norton (All-New Atom)
David Aja (Immortal Iron Fist)
Dan Jurgens (Booster Gold)

BEST WRITER/ARTIST:
Darwyn Cooke (the Spirit)
David Petersen (Mouse Guard)
Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise)
Steve Bryant (Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon)
Jim Starlin (Death of the New Gods)
Matt Kindt (Super Spy)

BEST INKER:
David Petersen (Mouse Guard)
Bob Wiacek (Brave and the Bold)
Rodney Ramos (52, Countdown)
Norm Rapmund (Booster Gold)
Rachel Dodson (Wonder Woman)
Dexter Vines (Civil War)

BEST COLORISTS:
Morry Hollowell (Civil War)
Tom Smith (Brave and the Bold)
Moose Bauman (Green Lantern)
Laura Martin (Thor)

BEST LETTERER:
Chris Eliopoulos (Thor)
Jeff Smith (Shazam: Monster Society of America)
Faryle Dalrymple (Omega the Unknown)
Todd Klein (Fables)

BEST EDITOR:
Michael Siglain (52)
Joe Quesada (Marvel)
Warren Simons (Immortal Iron Fist)
Karen Berger (Vertigo)
Eddie Berganza (Sinestro Corps War)

BEST COVER ARTIST:
Adam Hughes (Catwoman)
J.G. Jones (52, Countdown)
Jo Chen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Marko Djurdjevic (Daredevil)
Simone Bianchi (Detective Comics, Wolverine)
James Jean (Fables, the Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite)
David Finch (Moon Knight, World War Hulk)
Alex Ross (Justice Society of America, Justice)

BREAKOUT TALENT:
Jonathan Hickman (Nightly News)
Gerard Way (the Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite)
Brian Reed (Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel)
Matt Fraction (Immortal Iron Fist, the Order, Casanova)

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF 2007:
Spider-Man 3 movie
Comics Now! not shipping in 2007
"One More Day" storyline in the Spider-Man books
Spider-Man Debacle (Spider-Man 3, "Back in Black", "One More Day")
Tales of Sinestro Corps: Anti-Monitor one-shot shelved
Civil War #7
Countdown

BEST COMICS PROJECT IN ANOTHER MEDIUM:
300 movie
Heroes TV show
Comic binding
the Batman cartoon
DCU Build a Figure toyline
Marvel prose novels

MOST IMPORTANT NEWS OF 2007:
Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited announced
acceptance of lateness of comics from buyers
short Drawer Boxes
the return of DC's Multiverse
Marvel's exposure in the mainstream media
comics going digital (Wowio, Pullbox online, Slave Labor Graphics, DC's Zuda, Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited)
Death of Captain America

MOST ANTICIPATED FOR 2008:
Comic Geek Speak SuperShow
Marvel's Secret Invasion
more comic movies
DC's Final Crisis
Iron Man movie and merchandise

INDIE CHALLENGE FOR JANUARY'08!

It's the return of the CGS Indie Challenge! The following three comics from the current January Previews (for books shipping in March) are our picks for this month's Indie Challenge. Each are discounted from the original cover price. Pre-order your copies (and a few for your friends!) at Discount Comic Book Service.


COMIC BOOK COMICS #1 (Evil Twin Comics)
By Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey. The creators of Action Philosophers and the publishers of the Awesome! Anthology are back! You only think you know comic history. The epic and insane story of comic books, manga and graphic novels, told as a comic, in the inimitable, irreverent and award-winning Action Philosophers style begins here! Before there could be comics, there has to be newspaper strips, animated cartoons, and pulp magazines. Thrill to publishing giants William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer duking it out over the Yellow Kid! Tremble at the war between Walt Disney and Max Fleischer for animation domination! Follow the bizarre trail of Siegel and Shuster's first superhero from sci-fi pulp to comic strip to the birth of a new medium! Plus the early years of Kirby, Eisner, McCay and Joe Simon! 40 pages, b-n-w. Cover price $3.95. DCBS price $2.17 (45% off). Previews page 290, product code JAN083612. For more info, check out http://www.eviltwincomics.com/cbc.html

DAMNED: PRODIGAL SONS # 1 (of 3) (Oni)
By Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. Eddie has the unfortunate gift of never staying dead. It has come in handy as Eddie walks a tight line between different Prohibition-era mob families, between the demonic and the human, and between our world and the dark afterlife. Yet after years of playing every side in this world of crime and violence, there are those that are determined that Eddie stays dead this time around. B-n-w. Cover price $3.50, DCBS price $1.75 (50% off). Previews page 322, product code JAN083820. For more info, check out http://www.thedamnedcomic.com and http://www.onipress.com/display.php?type=se&id=19

NIXON'S PALS OGN (Image)
By Joe Casey and Chris Burnham. What's worse than being a super-villain in Los Angeles County? Being their parole officer, of course! Meet Nixon Cooper and his colorful cast of parolees at large, hanging on by their fingernails in the morally ambiguous underbelly of LA. But who's got it worse - the criminals who're struggling (and often failing) to live the straight life? Or Nixon himself, struggling to keep up with all of them? And who the hell is sleeping with Nixon's wife? A crime story like you've never seen before! Elmore Leonard meets Jack Kirby. 120 pages, b-n-w.Cover price $12.99. DCBS price $6.49 (50% off). Previews page 152, product code JAN082057. Estimated due date March 26. For more info, check out http://www.chrisburnham.com


Help support these comics as they enter the marketplace and listen to Episode 353 which features interviews with all three creative teams. Any DCBS customer that wants to add the books to their pre-existing order can e-mail DCBS.