2015 X-Book Awards- The Results

[Andru]

Damn, I wish I would have voted. Storm only beat Magik by 1 Pt.

[RLAAMJR.]

BEST HERO OF 2015

The Voters’ Pick for Best Hero of 2014 is…

Storm! (19 points, 6 first place votes)

The Goddess... is back.

I may not be the biggest Storm mark ever (around these parts, I gotta default to a lot of her other fans), but you can't deny she's a total badass. And somehow, she's upped her game. Her regular series showed her saving friends scattered across the globe from attacks from Kenji Uedo. Without killing, no less.

And with a void left after both Wolverine, and Cyclops have died within so short of a time, Ororo has stepped up and become the consummate leader of the world's mutants from X-Haven, keeping everyone there safe from the threat posed by the Terrigen Mists, or anything the humans might throw at them.

Her resume to take the award this year is kind of hard to argue with. So we won't, and just give her the "Best Hero" award for 2015.

Hurray! Ororo Munroe aka Storm won!

[Wind Rider]

BEST HERO OF 2015

The Voters’ Pick for Best Hero of 2014 is…
Storm! (19 points, 6 first place votes)

The Goddess... is back.

I may not be the biggest Storm mark ever (around these parts, I gotta default to a lot of her other fans), but you can't deny she's a total badass. And somehow, she's upped her game. Her regular series showed her saving friends scattered across the globe from attacks from Kenji Uedo. Without killing, no less.

And with a void left after both Wolverine, and Cyclops have died within so short of a time, Ororo has stepped up and become the consummate leader of the world's mutants from X-Haven, keeping everyone there safe from the threat posed by the Terrigen Mists, or anything the humans might throw at them.

Her resume to take the award this year is kind of hard to argue with. So we won't, and just give her the "Best Hero" award for 2015.

NICELY stated! There was not as much participation this time around across the x-fandoms but very glad to see this result. 2015 was a good year for Ororo Munroe!

[RCX]

BREAKTHROUGH CHARACTER OF 2015
Last year’s winner was Tempus, who far and away became the most interesting member of Cyclops' team of renegade X-Men kids with her time-travelling powers. Who’s coming home with the 2015 prize?


Your Breakthrough Character of 2015 is…

Sunspot!(8 points, 2 first place votes)

After years of lagging behind Cannonball in voting in several categories, this is the first year in awhile that Roberto DaCosta has been able to spread his wings without being outshined by him, or any other of his old New Mutants teammates. Instead, Sunspot took down A.I.M.'s Scientist Supreme in a fight solo, bought the science-motivated terror group out from under him, and repurposed them to be an entire division working for the Avengers. He led an Avengers squad that prevented the latest Cap/Iron Man potential civil war from breaking out prior to Secret Wars, as well, showing he's actually got his crap together more than either of those two veterans.

Let's just hope he lives long enough through the Terrigen Mist cloud to make a difference in the new Marvel Universe. Anyway, Sunspot is your Breakthrough Character for 2015.

Yes! Though I disagree when you say that Cannonball outshines him, but this is a different subject for different thread.

[Arya]

NICELY stated! There was not as much participation this time around across the x-fandoms but very glad to see this result. 2015 was a good year for Ororo Munroe!

Deliciousness may 2016 only grow this.

[butterflykyss]

It's great to see Storm as best hero of 2015. With her solo and her being the new face of mutantkind during such a tumultuous time it makes sense she would be. Here's hoping she continues to grow as a leader/hero and help mutants during this time of uncertainty.

[worstblogever]

LEAST FAVORITE COVER OF 2015
Last Year’s winner was Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3) #24. What was the cover you hoped a book wouldn't get judged by in 2015?

Second Runner-up…

Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #600 (Morlock Variant)! (7 points, 0 first place votes)

YEAH! Nothing says 600 issues of Uncanny like Callisto and the Morlocks!

Sigh.

First Runner-up…

Age of Apocalypse #4 (8 points, 2 first place votes)

Emma Frost, keepin' it classy.

The Voters’ Pick for Least Favorite Cover of an X-Book in 2015 is…

E is for Extinction #4! (10 points, 2 first place votes)

Well... that's... I have no words.

[worstblogever]

BEST COVER OF 2015
Last year’s winner was the Cyclops (vol. 3) #7. And this year, as I shut up and let the artwork speak for itself?


Second Runner-up…

Storm (vol. 3) #10! (9 points, 1 first place vote)




First Runner-up…

All New Wolverine #1 (Hip Hop Variant)! (10 points, 2 first place vote)



The Voters’ Pick for Best Cover of an X-Book in 2015 is…

Storm (vol. 3) #11! (14 points, 4 first place votes)

Congrats to the winners!

[worstblogever]

BEST ONE-SHOT OF 2014
2011’s winner was Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3) Annual #1, because Eva Bell, that's why. But which of this year’s one-shots this took the award?

The nominees:

• Deadpool: Tres Punto Uno
• Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1
• Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega #1
• Uncanny Avengers (vol. 3) Annual #1
• Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #600

Second Runner-up…


Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega #1 (10 points, 2 first place vote)

Part 13. Yes, there were 13 parts. This was the thirteenth of them.


First Runner-up…

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1! (12 points, 2 first place vote)

The cosmic saga where they explain what the hell the Black Vortex is, before our heroes spend twelve more issues bumbling about with it and laying waste to some of the most heavily populated planets in the Marvel Universe because of it.


The Voters’ Pick for Best X-OneShot of 2015 is…

Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #600! (18 points, 4 first place votes)

Anniversary issue FTW!

[worstblogever]

LEAST FAVORITE MINI-SERIES OF 2014
Last Year’s Winner: What if… AvX? (presumably for switching it from having the first blow coming from Cyclops & Captain America… and instead it’s Wolverine and Namor. And when Storm tries to break it up, Wolverine accidentally murders the f*** out of her. No time for anyone to telekinetically shut down the wound, to have Magneto slow the blood flow, that’s it, she’s gutted, party over. It gets worse from there.)


This year's nominees...

• Age of Apocalypse (vol. 4)
• Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders
• Deadpool & Cable: Split Second
• Deadpool vs. Thanos
• Deadpool's Art of War
• E is for Extinction
• Giant-Size Little Marvel: AVX
• House of M (vol. 2)
• Inferno
• Old Man Logan #1-5
• Return of the Living Deadpool
• Secret Wars
• Siege (vol. 2)
• Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde
• X-Men ‘92
• X-Tinction Agenda
• Years of Future Past

Second Runner-up…

Age of Apocalypse (vol. 3)! (8 points, 1 first place vote)

Ah, nothing will awake the nostalgia you have for the original saga like seeing Dr. Nemesis kill Apocalypse with the Legacy Virus, and then mutate himself into the ultimate super-mutant. Just like in the original!

First Runner-up…

Secret Wars! (10 points, 2 first place votes)

The most well-received universal reset by X-Fans since "House of M".



The Voters’ Pick for Least Favorite X-Miniseries of 2014 is…


E is for Extinction! (14 points, 3 first place votes)

A series that took the Morrison/Quitely X-Men run, stripped the actual X-Men of their powers, made several Omega Gang members major threats, and then started throwing more Beasts (see our "Least Favorite Hero" category) into the mix than you ever wanted.

Again, the idea was that "Secret Wars" series would make people nostalgic for the original stories, not walk away with a bad taste in their mouth.

[worstblogever]

BEST MINI-SERIES OF 2015
Last Year’s Winner: Death of Wolverine took the award... but now it's a whole new year...


This year's nominees...

• Age of Apocalypse (vol. 4)
• Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders
• Deadpool & Cable: Split Second
• Deadpool vs. Thanos
• Deadpool's Art of War
• E is for Extinction
• Giant-Size Little Marvel: AVX
• House of M (vol. 2)
• Inferno
• Old Man Logan #1-5
• Return of the Living Deadpool
• Secret Wars
• Siege (vol. 2)
• Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde
• X-Men ‘92
• X-Tinction Agenda
• Years of Future Past

Second Runner-up…

Siege (vol. 2)! (12 points, 3 first place votes)

You want Agent Brand on that wall. You NEED Agent Brand on that wall. The last stand of The Shield on Battleworld facing down wave after wave of zombies, robots, zombie robots, and the weirdest, freakiest threats of the Multiverse. Also featuring Magik, Leah, Ms. America, and Kang.

Billed by writer Kieron Gillen as "imagine if Nextwave were a tragedy", it did not disappoint.



First Runner-up…

Inferno! (20 points, 2 first place votes)

Now this was a Secret Wars series that did what it was supposed to. Effectively answering the question of "What if the Inferno event never ended?", we see a progressively more evil Magik making the most out of her brother Colossus' annual "rescue mission", mangling and maiming X-Men every year that he tries.

This year's mission gets more interesting, though, when they not only face casualties at the hands of Ilyana's demon army, but also encounter the Goblyn Queen and Mr. Sinister, who are hanging about and vying for power as well.

Great story. Plenty of twists and fun (of course fun, Boom Boom is in there).



The Voters’ Pick for Best X-Miniseries of 2015 is…

X-Men '92! (21 points, 5 first place votes)

Again, taking the nostalgia of another time and getting it right was the key. Do you miss X-Men: The Animated Series when Jubilee was a lovable dimwitted mall rat with pyrotechnic powers and stole the spotlight? Do you miss when Gambit and Rogue were flirting and didn't have a ton of emotional baggage or backstory getting in the way? How about when Storm would recite weather-related poetry whenever she used her powers? Yeah? Then BAM, this is for you.

And it also won the Best X-Miniseries of the year.

[worstblogever]

LEAST FAVORITE STORY FROM A SINGLE X-TITLE IN 2015
Last year’s winner: ”Tomorrow Never Learns“, from [I]Wolverine & the X-Men (vol. 2)[I]!- because it was so great to see a religion that worships the Phoenix appear right after it would have been so popular after AvX with their warrior priest named after a loyal toilet, Faithful John, slapping around children with the help of BAMFs on the lawn of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning… and their evil plot succeeded in getting Quentin Quire to change addresses! That’s some villainy!, Anyway, this year’s winners…


Second Runner-up…

”Counter-Evolutionary!“ from Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2)! (14 points, 3 first place vote)

The High Evolutionary is raising hell on Counter-Earth (thus the title) and the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver want some answers about who their real daddy is, after AXIS had one of those Maury Povich “You are not the father!” scenes in it. Well, turns out, both are apparently lab experiment test tube babies that he considered failures, and he has LUMINOUS (see worst villain of the year awards) as his new pet project, with the powers of both of them to kick their ass. This storyline also features a lot of Dr. Voodoo chatting with dead people while everyone else gets their ass kicked, the Vision getting seduced by a lady robot, the Sam Wilson Captain America turned into a tree for no reason, Sabretooth made into a pet, and Rogue kept by the skeeviest bird-lookin’ dude you ever laid eyes on in a scene that will make your skin crawl in only the way Storm/Brainchild scenes usually do.

As the original X-Forum moderator Brian Cronin used to say in some reviews… Not Recommended.

*
First Runner-up…

”The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier“, from Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3)! (20 points, 6 first place votes)
*
So much of this was out of left field. Xavier and Mystique were married. Xavier left the mansion to Scott, provided he did him a favor and killed Matthew Malloy. Who was, oh, by the way, a mutant of beyond godlike power who Xavier used his powers to set up mental blocks to keep from ever using them. And in the end, the only thing that solves the crisis is Tempus whipping around through time and taking Xavier into the past to use his powers to make sure that Matthew Malloy’s dad never gets any baby batter in Mrs. Malloy.

And it will only take 6 issues to tell that tale.



The Voters’ Pick for Least Favorite Story from a Single X-Title in 2015 is…

”The Utopians“, from All New X-Men (vol. 1)! (22 points, 3 first place votes)

When the title of the story is a bunch of characters who just so happened to also win the “Rouge Mort” award… that’s not a good sign. So yeah, the All New X-Men team of the O5 plus X-23 take on Karma, Boom Boom, Madison Jeffries, Random, Masque, and Elixir, who were somehow all back on Utopia, and were acting like they were high on bath salts and attacking S.H.I.E.L.D., because that wouldn’t make them keep coming. This story was two issues of head-scratching that made everyone assume the creative team was just killing time until Secret Wars starting, and it showed.

Thus, “The Utopians” is your winner for worst storyline of 2014.

[worstblogever]

BEST STORY FROM A SINGLE X-TITLE IN 2015
Last year’s winner: ”Uncanny X-Men vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.”, because watching an intelligence agency get clowned by Dark Beast leaving inside a spacesuit on their own Helicarrier was hilarious. This year…



Second Runner-up…

”Bring the Thunder“ in Storm (vol. 3)! (14 points, 2 first place vote)[/B]

Storm ends up saving an airliner with a U.S. Senator on it from crashing during an attack by terrorists, and determines the person behind the plot is a cyborg arms dealer, Davis Harmon, with ties to Yukio. And once she takes him into custody, she learns that he resurrected Kenji Uedo to kill her and everyone she loves. So Ororo ends up having to fight Kenji’s flesh-crafted goons around the globe, all at once, to save friends scattered in Africa, Manhattan, the Xavier compound, and Mexico at the same time.

And she pulls it off, because she’s f’n Storm.



First Runner-up…

”The Once and Future Juggernaut” in Amazing X-Men (vol. 2)! (17 points, 3 first place votes)

There’s a hell of a lot to love about this story. The X-Men involved? Storm. Rachel Grey. Colossus. Nightcrawler. Iceman. Firestar. Northstar. Pixie. Rockslide. And then you have a bunch of people making a play to raid the Temple of Cyttorak to steal his power for themselves. Folks like Cain Marko. The Living Monolith. Crossbones. Jinn, and Man-Killer. And hell, you even get a cameo by the Vanisher, to boot.

The fight gets wild enough when the Living Monolith gets his hands on the gem, that the X-Men all just take some time to reminisce and catch their breath while he’s stomping most of the countryside. Oh, and Northstar finally stops dancing around what Cyclops did during AvX and just tells Marko that he murdered Xavier. So there’s that, too.

This story was just a hell of a lot of fun. Especially with the scenes Pixie and Rockslide steal.



The Voters’ Pick for Best Story from a Single X-Title in 2015 is…

”Last Days of Magneto“ in Magneto (vol. 3) ! (18 points, 4 first place votes)

One of the most fascinating qualities of Magneto through the years is how he always is about the ends justifying the means. And when he learns the end of the world is coming prior to Secret Wars, and two Earths will collide… he takes measures to make sure HIS Earth is the one that will survive. How far will he go? Who will he cut deals with? Who is he willing to betray to achieve the power he needs to save all that which is, and will it be all worth it?

That… is a story of pathos. And Cullen Bunn knocked it out of the park to win in this category.

[worstblogever]

LEAST FAVORITE ONGOING X-TITLE OF 2015
Last Year’s Winner of this X-Razzie: Wolverine & the X-Men (vol. 2), because of villains like Faithful John and the Phoenix Corporation, and then the title character died and everyone spent multiple issues reflecting. And this year…

Nominees:[/SIZE]

• All New X-Factor
• All New Wolverine
• All New X-Men (vol. 1)
• All New X-Men (vol. 2)
• Amazing X-Men (vol. 2)
• Cyclops (vol. 3)
• Deadpool (vol. 3)
• Deadpool (vol. 4)
• Extraordinary X-Men
• Magneto (vol. 3)
• Nightcrawler (vol. 4)
• Scarlet Witch (vol. 2)
• Spider-Man & the X-Men
• Storm (vol. 3)
• Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2)
• Uncanny Avengers (vol. 3)
• Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3)
• Uncanny X-Men (vol. 4)
• Wolverines
• X-Force (vol. 4)
• X-Men (vol. 4)

And the winners…


Second Runner-up…

Spider-Man & the X-Men (vol. 1)! (12 points, 1 first place vote)

A hodge-podge of students from Academy X and the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning classes were thrown together to be taught by Spider-Man, because Wolverine asked him to in his dying wishes and Peter Parker is both a former school teacher and man with incredibly s***ty luck.

His first day on the job, Stegron and Sauron team up to try to turn everyone into dinosaurs, because that’s what you do with their sort of super-science, rather than cure cancer. What made this story even harder to take was the day was saved when Shark Girl was asked to use her jailbait feminine wiles to distract Sauron… and seeing him eager to commit statutory rape with a girl with Sharktits is a bit beyond the pale (pictured above, because I shouldn’t be the only one skeeved out).

Successive issues also featured Deathbird infected with a symbiote alien similar to Venom, a trip to Mojoworld with Mysterio, and then a big throw down with Mr. Sinister, because Peter Parker has s***ty luck and attracts villain attacks more than anyone ever. Every X-Man was loathe to have him present at the school, and apparently so were readers.


*
First Runner-up…

All New X-Men (vol. 1)! (15 points,*2 first place votes)

After an extended trip to the Ultimate Universe, where Miles Morales ended up with a thing for Teen Jean, the team came back home just in time to get shunted off into deep space for a crossover with the Guardians of the Galaxy, before closing out their series on the “high note” of this year’s Least Favorite Story from a single title, “The Utopians”.

That will score you a lot of points towards an X-Razzie. But one other title beat it out…



The Voters’ Pick for Least Favorite Ongoing of 2015 is…

Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3)! (17 points, 5 first place votes)

This one’s a bit surprising to me. Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3)’s main problem after AXIS and before Secret Wars was a general lack of direction. Cyclops team mostly sat around doing nothing while he dealt with Matthew Malloy, until Tempus really did the work. That took up almost half the year. Then, it seemed like things were getting rearranged for a new status quo. And here and there, you’d get issues where Scott and Emma would sort through their drama, or Havok (inverted, even) would arrive at the New Xavier School. Or Ilyana and Kitty would go on a mission to save Bo together. Or Goldballs would make an ass of himself on social media. But really, 2015 in Uncanny just kind of happened. There was no overreaching villain. No goal for the team. It just kind of… kept going. And apparently, going from being awesome to in a holding pattern was enough to win it the X-Razzie for Least Favorite Ongoing of 2015.

[worstblogever]

BEST* ONGOING* X-TITLE OF 2014
Last Year’s Winner: Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3)


Nominees:

• All New X-Factor
• All New Wolverine
• All New X-Men (vol. 1)
• All New X-Men (vol. 2)
• Amazing X-Men (vol. 2)
• Cyclops (vol. 3)
• Deadpool (vol. 3)
• Deadpool (vol. 4)
• Extraordinary X-Men
• Magneto (vol. 3)
• Nightcrawler (vol. 4)
• Scarlet Witch (vol. 2)
• Spider-Man & the X-Men
• Storm (vol. 3)
• Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2)
• Uncanny Avengers (vol. 3)
• Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3)
• Uncanny X-Men (vol. 4)
• Wolverines
• X-Force (vol. 4)
• X-Men (vol. 4)

And the winners…




Second Runner-up…

Amazing X-Men (vol. 2)! (13 points, 3 first place votes)

On the strength of “The Once and Future Juggernaut”, this book vaulted itself onto the “Best Ongoing” list. Heck, the story itself might have been the best Colossus has come off in any appearance in years. Add in some endearing moments for Pixie and Rockslide, as well as Northstar at his cattiest… and this thing was all win.


First Runner-up…

Storm (vol. 3)! (15 points, 3 first place votes)
*
There are reasons why Storm won for “Best Hero” of the year. If you’d like to learn more, you should have been reading her regular series, which gave us issue after issue of Storm kicking ass, and even taking time off here and there to go adventuring with Gambit, because when these two have thief hijinks, there’s nothing like it.


The Voters’ Pick for Best Ongoing of 2014 is…

Magneto (vol. 3)! (17 points, 4 first place votes)

You can interpret this one of two ways. One… it’s probably not a good sign for the status quo of the X-books if Magneto has the best book out there right now. Or two, you actually were reading the book, and have seen Cullen Bunn flesh out the Master of Magnetism in ways that make you understand how he doesn’t ever really see himself as a villain… he’s just a man who’s always going to make his means justify the ends. Giving him antagonists like the disembodied ghost of a Nazi concentration camp guard who tormented him, or the Sugar Man, or the end of the world as we know it…

Magneto proved a fascinating study. So much so that his title was voted the best of the year.