2014 X-Book Awards- The Results

[Fifolet]

First of all, thanks worstblogever for doing this again. This is how i first discovered this forum, it's a useful feature for perhaps pointing out material fans neglected to pick up in the first place, and you just make it fun to read - "Hopefully, Storm will get him to the vet for his shots soon enough." eheh


Bamf was a given this year. Not only marked the returned of a loved character being himself again, but he came wrapped with a troupe of the cutest critters you ever seen in the x-books, that really add to the character. Disney is proud and is sure to make a ton of money of bamf dolls.

The Magik quote. I'm not sure, but wasn't that on an issue published last year?

I think i need to take a look at the Storm stuff when it comes out in trades. I pass on it, but it looks like it might be worthwhile.

As for the Rouge Mort trophy, i didn't vote for any of those in this category (i did vote for the Xavier Junior reveal but placed it in the shocking category), but i agree with most of them (this year had plenty to choose from), except Dazzler. It really doesn't seem so odd taking on a darker look considering what the character been through recently.

The Shockers:
Evan. I didn't find this shocking at all. I do have one question. At the end of Axis, you see Evan hanging out with Deadpool. Is he a regular in the Deadpool titles now?

Nice seeing the sharks reveal get a nod, considering so few were actually reading the title.

The Lensherr retcon. Frankly, i don't think we have anything to worry about here. I mean, let's look at the facts. How much credit can you put on that spell of her really? She was acting crazy, well crazier than her usual self, and for a curse that should have wipe out her family line, the only thing it did was to put Pietro to sleep for a few minutes. And, let's not forget that Magneto had been pumping MGH into his blood which could explain why he wasn't affected (there has to be foreign DNA material in that stuff). I'm not saying that's the way current Marvel will choose to go. Probably not considering their trend to troll fans. Just saying it's a retcon easy to retcon.

As for the winner, the marriage and baby thing, it's a deserved win, but honestly, is it so shocking? Considering all the stuff they've been doing with the Xavier character in the last few years, nothing fazes me anymore. I could see a ressurrected Xavier forcing himself on teen Jean Grey in 2015 and that wouldn't even register on my shock-o-meter.

[anthony_lynch15]

Some worthy winners so far.
And enjoying the commentary as well.
Looking forward to seeing the rest of the results.

[worstblogever]

BEST DEATH SCENE OF 2014
Last year’s winner was Rogue, at the hands of Grim Reaper (which was easily side-stepped via time-travel second chances, because hey, it’s Marvel Comics) But whose dirt nap wins in 2014?


Honorable Mention

Red Skull! (15 points, 3 first place votes)

I cheered. I did. “F*** HIM UP, MAGNUS! YEAH!”

I waited almost two years for someone to come along and hand this grave-robbing Super-Nazi his on ass. And then I got it, and it was good. And then there was the rest of AXIS, and that was not so good, but in the moment, this was good.


Honorable Mention

Cable! (16 points, 3 first place votes)

The daily Dayspring clones have bought the farm in a variety of ways, from Psylocke execution, to Volga detonation, to Fantomex shark-fed… each one has been brutal. That shark bait seems to be the favorite of our voters, though.


Third runner-up…

Amanda Sefton! (17 points, 2 first place votes)

Nightcrawler’s adopted sister/lover and the ruler of Limbo also shuffled off the mortal coil in 2014, ironically not long after the love of her life just came back from the Great Beyond. I think we can assume she will not be resurrected by way of slugs that turn into teleporting plush miniatures of herself, though, like Kurt did.

[worstblogever]

Second Runner-up…

Dark Beast! (24 points, 3 first place vote)

One of the greatest X-villains of the past several years, Dark Beast appeared as the mystery villain in Uncanny X-Men, and most people didn’t realize it was him because of how thin he was. Turns out, experimenting on yourself on the genetic level for decades can eventually catch up with you, and fast. Which, seems fair, considering his Marvel-616 version almost died the previous year from various experimentations upon his own genetic form.



First Runner Up…

Exodus!(36 points, 8 first place votes)

Matthew Malloy, you’d better be worth it. Because one of the best shoulder-pad wearing threats of the 1990s died to get you over, man. Bennett du Paris was a team-breaker, a threat that made the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. run like chickens with their heads cut off. To see him cut down in his prime (as much as a man who’s lived for like 800 years can have a prime) like that was a hard pill to swallow.


The Most Noted Death of 2014 is…

Wolverine! (67 points, 19 first place votes)
Oh. Well yeah. Every year, the winner in this category is usually the highest profile X-Man to die. Be it Rogue, Xavier, or Nightcrawler the past few years… that’s who takes home the prize. And even with him being a child-killing hypocrite who led one half of the Schism of the X-books, Logan checking out was going to far and away win this award this year.

Let’s hope that Mr. Sinister does something noteworthy with his corpse, like make it into a fancy bidet or some such.

[Fifolet]

Let’s hope that Mr. Sinister does something noteworthy with his corpse, like make it into a fancy bidet or some such.

lol
this is why we love these awards WBE.

I thought the Red Skull death would get more points. It was very well done. And since i'm on the subject, Axis wouldn't be so bad if they stuck with just the first 3 issues. The rest was clearly overstretching to milk the cow and feed next year of stories in a couple of titles (Uncanny X-Men and Avengers). Nowadays every crossover thingy must be overblown for sales.

As for that Cable's particular death, it was brilliant in its setup and execution. How it gets less points than Dark Beast, which came out of nowhere, is a mystery to me.

[cc008]

The Shockers:
Evan. I didn't find this shocking at all. I do have one question. At the end of Axis, you see Evan hanging out with Deadpool. Is he a regular in the Deadpool titles now?

Eh.. not exactly. More like a recurring character. He was (obviously) involved in the Axis tie-ins for Deadpool and has showed up on one or two other occasions, but not a regular like Preston, Ellie, or his wife have become.

[Havok83]

hold up, Cable's dead?

[Shambles]

hold up, Cable's dead?

Nope, he got infected with a virus that was killing him so he was put into a coma. He was then cloned and the clones were the ones tracking down the cure for the virus. The clones died a lot, it was fun.

[blanchett]

I was so out of the loop in 2014 I never know about half of these.

[Havok83]

Nope, he got infected with a virus that was killing him so he was put into a coma. He was then cloned and the clones were the ones tracking down the cure for the virus. The clones died a lot, it was fun.

thanks and thank god he's not dead. He's one of my faves and they only just brought him back not that long ago. Is it worth me tracking X-force down?

I was so out of the loop in 2014 I never know about half of these.

Its why I didnt even bother to vote this year. Ive only read Bendis' two books

[Supernature]

thanks and thank god he's not dead. He's one of my faves and they only just brought him back not that long ago. Is it worth me tracking X-force down?

It's definitely worth giving a try imho (though the first issue might be off putting).

[worstblogever]

BEST ROMANCE/KISS OF 2014

2013’s winner of this award the first kiss between Blindfold and Legion. (THE FEELS.) In 2014, though...

Honorable Mention

Wolverine and Storm! (17 points, 3 first place votes)

A romance that sadly, came to a tragic end with Logan’s death this year, Storm grieved in the way that you could only expect her to… she cried so hard the world underwent a global aurora borealis.

Damn. Logan’s **** game must be insane.



Honorable Mention

Teen Cyclops and Vileena! (19 points, 4 first place votes)

There’s a long history of pirate shanties about bedding the Captain’s daughter… and Scott Summers now knows why that is, personally, after winning over Vileena Malafect, lady space pirate. He perhaps won her over more than the last cabin boy who asked if he could “swab her poop deck”, if you know what I mean.

Because Scott is a damned gentleman. Of course.

Unless you have a kid. Then he’ll abandon you in Alaska faster than Quicksilver can blink.



Third runner-up

Dr. Nemesis & Fantomex! (20 points, 4 first place votes)

No one had this in their betting pool when X-Force (vol. 4) began, but there it is. Every year since Shatterstar and Rictor reunited and felt so good in this category, the one gay kiss from within any calendar year has placed. And this year, it’s Fantomex, a character nicknamed after Pepe Le Pew living up to his namesake and forcing himself on someone that gets the nod.

[worstblogever]

Second runner-up

Gambit and Polaris! (21 points, 3 first place votes)

The first kiss in this category that has immediately been followed with a slap to the face, there’s a lot of “will they or won’t they” going on between Lorna and Remy that’s keeping fans guessing, including people who have speculated on them getting together ever since Polaris’ bachelorette party where she bagged the male stripper who was a Gambit lookalike.

Of course, PAD isn’t a noob, and knows the minute you resolve a “Will they or won’t they” storyline with a “yes they will”, everyone loses interest. Maybe that is all moot now, since the title’s been cancelled, but whatever.


First runner-up

X-23 & Teen Angel! (22 points, 5 first place votes)

A teenaged version of Warren Worthington comes to the future, where he shags a female clone of Wolverine rotten. How the hell does anyone not think Brian Michael Bendis is writing fan-fiction, when you can type sentences like that with a straight face? Seriously!

I digress. These two have been deemed “the sex” by enough fans to finish with a silver medal in the Best Kiss/Romance category. Even though there’s not much kissing, because X-23 used to be an escort, and they don’t allow that sort of thing.



And the winner of the “Best Kiss of 2014” is…

Kitty Pryde & Star-Lord! (23 points, 4 first place votes)

Starcat shippers were a thing from the start of “The Trial of Jean Grey”, in spite of Kitty Pryde’s own admission that “I have bad luck with Peters.” (PHRASING, KITTY.) And by the end of that crossover, a spontaneous little peck has led into a long term relationship where these two chat on the “hologram” phone blatantly enough that Teen Iceman even has to wonder why she broke up with Adult him for such a relationship.

The biggest challenge, though, must have been when she got back into a spaceship to go save her new fella. I mean, the last time Kitty was in space, she got stuck hurtling around in a moon-sized mega-bullet for like a year. It was very brave of her to overcome all that in the name of getting “Hooked on a Feeling” and shacking up with Peter Quill to scream out, “OOGA CHAGA!” in the throes of passion.

Good for both. Let’s just hope people don’t start clamoring to break ‘em up before one ends up getting their terrestrial/extraterrestrial status quo changed to justify a romance.

[worstblogever]

BEST CROSSOVER OF 2014
Last year’s winner was X-Termination, which was a fond farewell to three ongoing series at the same time.

Nominees:

• AXIS
• Death of Wolverine
• Inhumanity
• No End in Sight (Uncanny X-Men/Iron Man/Nova Annuals)
• Original Sin
• Revolutionary War
• The Trial of Jean Grey (All New X-Men/Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2))

Honorable Mention…

Original Sin (8 points, 0 first place votes)

Someone shot Uatu the Watcher in the face, and the suspects include the Orb, Oubliette, the Cosmic Man, and the no-longer Mindless Ones. Meanwhile, people like Wolverine, Winter Soldier, and Emma Frost are on the case, while trying to recover Uatu’s mystical googly eyes that were plucked from his corpse. In the end, the shooter would be revealed to be an Old-As-Dirt Nick Fury, who big surprise, has been lying to the whole Marvel Universe for decades and almost every time you’ve seen him? That was retconned to have been an advanced LMD that no one could detect, in any way at all.

Yes, this was published, and got by editorial. Why do you ask?



Honorable Mention…

Revolutionary War (9 points, 3 first place votes)

There are people who miss Marvel U.K., and thus, this miniseries was created by Marvel staffers who were tired of being at conventions and having British people pop up and ask when they were going to have a guest-star appearance or arc featuring Motormouth, Killpower, or Death’s Head. Pete Wisdom and Captain Britain were contractually obligated to appear.


Third runner-up…

AXIS! (17 points, 3 first place votes)

There’s a trope in fantasy gaming about “alignment swapping”, usually via a cursed object that makes anyone start acting like their opposing moral alignment. Marvel decided that premise could be used for an entire crossover attempt that would show us Fascist Falcon, nice guy Red Skull, Penitent Sabretooth, Honest Loki, and Weapons Dealer Tony Stark. Did I mention the X-Men would suddenly all fight for mutant superiority and rally under Apocalypse (Genesis II)?

The highlight was seeing some X-Men who normally don’t cut loose going apes***, like Nightcrawler teleporting Sabretooth’s fingers off. Of course, you also had to see “Iceheart”, and then endure the paternity test retcon to end all others.

[worstblogever]

Second Runner-up…

No End in Sight! (11 points, 1 first place vote)

There were concerns after Marvel chose to introduce Sam Alexander as the new Nova too close to the release of the Guardians of the Galaxy film, which left out Richard Rider as well in favor of John C. Reilly, Cruella DaVil, and a dickish Peter Serafinowicz. I mean, that’s not a big inspiring vote of confidence for the new kid.

So they wrote a story to use the credibility of the X-Men and Iron Man to lend some to the new Nova where Monark Starslayer, a galactic bounty hunter is down on his luck and wants a big score. Apparently not realizing how you turn a profit in the bounty game, he hires Death’s Head to do his dirty work and pick up Havok for charges still pending from when Vulcan was the emperor of the Shi’ar Empire. Then Iron Man goes to rescue the Uncanny Avenger from space, unknowingly in the company of fugitives from All New X-Men, like Goldballs and Triage. (I’ll just assume Stark was drunk again.)

In any event, each Marvel property played a role in this quaint little crossover, taking place in three one-shot annual/specials. It’s becoming a tradition, and we’ll have to see which X-book gets called for duty in 2015, likely to tie-in with Kamala Khan and Thor, or some such.


First Runner-up…

Death of Wolverine!(35 points, 9 first place votes)

Because if anything can get people to buy a tie-in, it’s a lady Grim Reaper caressing a dude’s hairy bum.

In any event, “Death of Wolverine” gave us no less than 3 miniseries, a One-Shot, and several “impact” issues of Wolverine & the X-Men (vol. 2), Storm (vol. 3), and others to show you how X-Men, and some of Wolverine’s main rogues were all handling their grieving process.

Now the only question seems to be how long before Marvel chooses to bring Logan back.



The Best Crossover of 2014 is…

The Trial of Jean Grey! (60 points, 15 first place votes)

All New X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy had a charming crossover in 2014 that ran away with this category, where the Shi’ar Empire become aware that Teen Jean is on Earth, and decide through a lapse of logic from Emperor Gladiator, that she should be punished for crimes that the real Jean already had been put on trial by combat to the death for, even though she’s the past version of Jean Grey that hasn’t committed those crimes yet. (???)

I’m not going to worry about that too much, because any time you give me Drax and X-23 hanging together, Kitty Pryde falling for Peter Quill, and a brawl between the ANXM & GOTG vs. the Shi’ar Imperial Guard… yeah, I’m in.

Therefore… Trial of Jean Grey was your winner of the 2014 Crossover of the Year.