COMMENT: Comics Bloggers' Poll 2005 Results

UPDATED

The results are in from the inaugural Comics Bloggers' Poll 2005, and like so many voting experiences of mine over the past six years or so, I find myself once again disappointed in my fellow Americans bloggers.

James Meeley notes the skewed turnout, with only 2 of the 50 bloggers voting being women, while Ragnell comments that it was "mostly superhero fans who voted." I'm only familiar with exactly half of the voters' blogs, but of those, there's a pretty good mix of tastes, so I'm not sure how much weight to give that particular observation.

Anyway, the results (top five for each category) and my thoughts...

Best Artist
1. Frank Quitely (40)
2. JH Williams III (29)
3. John Cassaday (22)
4. Tony Harris (21)
5. Gene Ha (14)

Meh. I like Quitely, but considering his rather limited output last year, he feels like more of a popularity pick, riding the coattails of the blogiverse's overwhelming adoration of All-Star Superman (ALL ONE ISSUE OF IT!!!) and We3, the latter of which was an artistic tour de force, if overrated as a whole. Same with Cassaday, whom I'm not a particularly big fan of as his style is too stiff for my tastes, only a step or two away from Greg Land's photo-tracing. I'm not terribly familiar with Williams, but did he do anything besides Seven Soldiers #0 and a few issues of Desolation Jones? Not saying it's a quantity thing, necessarily, but considering the interesting exclusion of covers from this category, these results are about as valid as Wizard's Top 10. Pretty much why I didn't bother voting in this category.

Best Writer
1. Grant Morrison (97)
2. Warren Ellis (37)
3. Brian K. Vaughan (34)
4. Ed Brubaker (25)
5. Geoff Johns, Gail Simone (24)

Again, I didn't vote in this category either as it felt too much like a popularity contest, even moreso than the artist category as there's no way I could properly judge, say, Gail Simone, since I hadn't read any of her work. These two categories might have been better served by a preliminary step to develop a list of 5-10 nominees before opening voting to everyone. Morrison's landslide victory isn't the least bit surprising, of course, but I have to wonder if, looking back to 2005 ten years from now, whether or not Ellis or Vaughan's work will be seen as being stronger and more influential than anything he did last year. Johns started 2005 as one of my favorite superhero writers, and ended it a step above Judd Winick and Jeph Loeb, two writers I wish would leave comics altogether. (Interestingly, neither of these hacks got a single vote, so the comics blogiverse has some sense!) My money is on Brubaker for snagging the top spot for 2006 when all is said and done.

Best Ongoing Title
1. Fell (30)
2. All Star Superman (25)
3. Desolation Jones (20)
4. Love and Rockets, Or Else (18)
5. Captain America, Ex Machina, Young Avengers (17)

This list was a bit of a surprise, but because I didn't keep a copy of my own votes, I'm not sure exactly how big of a surprise it actually is. All Star Superman being on the list is simply ridiculous since, as I noted above, there was only one issue released in 2005, and I could have sworn there was a rule specifying a minimum number of issues being released to qualify. (If not, there should have been.) I didn't read any L&R or Or Else with a 2005 publication date, so I can't speak to whether their appearances are deserved or not, but I can agree with Fell, Captain America, Ex Machina and Young Avengers being there. Desolation Jones #1 didn't work for me, but I'm at the point where I think I'll give it another look. A glance at my Top 10 list shows I was alone with most of my picks, with only Gotham Central (6th) and The Losers (11th) getting noticeable support.

Best Original Graphic Novel
1. Top 10: The 49ers (82)
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (74)
3. Capote In Kansas (30)
4. Tricked (29)
5. The Quitter (19)

This was a tough category for me as I rarely read OGNs when they first come out. In fact, I've only read five of the titles that made the entire list, though I own another five or so which I haven't gotten around to reading yet. I'm not even sure what I voted for (Why Are You Doing This? might have been one of mine, assuming I remembered it at the time), though I'd probably throw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World a point or two now that I've read it. This category, more than any other, needs to be tweaked for next year as it's not clear whether anthologies of original material really belong here - I missed out on voting for Project: Superior because of that - and Manga was left completely up in the air, apparently resulting in my vote for Dead End being dropped while internet darling Steady Beat made the list. Nevertheless, I'll be using it as a list of recommendations for future purchases on those light weeks.

Best Mini-Series or One-Shot
1. Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy, Villains United (28)
2. Infinite Crisis (22)
3. Spider-Man/Human Torch (21)
4. Seven Soldiers: Guardian, Seven Soldiers: Zatanna (20)
5. Marvel Monsters (16)

This was very surprising, if for no other reason than that it's all Marvel/DC. So much for the blogiverse's diverse tastes! Of course, Grant Morrison is well represented, though I have to admit to Klarion and Zatanna being the only two of his Seven Soldiers minis to strike a chord with me. I'd actually rate the whole of House of M as being better than the three convoluted issues of Infinite Crisis released last year, if for no other reason than Bendis actually managed to nail a handful of really strong character moments while Johns has wielded his plot hammer like a three-fingered amputee. (No, it's not supposed to make sense.) Adam Strange, Elk's Run, Fade From Grace, Madrox and Nat Turner would be my ideal Top 5, though I have no memory of what my actual ballot looked like.

Best Collection of Previously Printed Material
1. Black Hole (57)
2. We3 (37)
3. Showcase Presents Superman (32)
4. Street Angel (27)
5. Showcase Presents Green Lantern (26)

Having finally read it, I'm comfortable with Black Hole taking the top spot. Not so thrilled with the next four, though, as the Showcase votes seem to be more about presentation than actual content; We3 is way overrated, amazing art carrying a derivative and unsatisfying story; and Street Angel, the first two issues of which were silly fun, but not enough to get me to read the final three which are now long-forgotten, buried deep under my to-read pile. There's some irony in the mis-titled Bumperboy tying with DEMO for 15th place, as I think all five of its points might have come from me. Overall, there's a lot of good TPBs represented and I'll be using this list like the OGN list, cherry-picking it on light shopping weeks.

Kudos to Chris Tamarri for conceiving and spearheading the vote. I'm looking forward to next year's edition, hopefully fleshed out a bit and with more participation from you people. If you were eligible and didn't vote, shut up!

PS: Be sure to check out Tamarri's dissection of the results, along with The Low Road's Ed Cunard, for some interesting background and DVD commentary. Chris is also tracking other commentary on the Poll. Does Zogby offer that kind of service?

UPDATE
In the interests of full disclosure, and my own curiousity, here's my official ballot. (Thanks, Chris!)

Field              Entry                                 Points
BestArtist1        No Vote                               10
BestCollection1    Bumperboy Loses His Marbles TPB        3
BestCollection2    Runners: Bad Goods TPB                 2
BestCollection3    Madrox TPB                             2
BestCollection4    100 Girls: The First Girl, Vol. 1 TPB  1
BestCollection5    Fade From Grace TPB                    2
BestMiniseries1    Elk's Run                              3
BestMiniseries2    NYC Mech: Beta Love                    3 
BestMiniseries3    Superior Showcase #0                   2
BestMiniseries4    Something So Familiar                  1
BestMiniseries5    Son of Vulcan                          1
BestOriginalNovel1 Why Are You Doing This?                5
BestOriginalNovel2 Dead End, Vol. 2                       5
BestTitle1         100 Girls                              2
BestTitle2         Amelia Rules!                          3
BestTitle3         Conan                                  1
BestTitle4         The Losers                             1
BestTitle5         The Expatriate                         1
BestTitle6         Young Avengers                         2
BestWriter1        No Vote                               10

Looking back, I realize I submitted my votes way too quickly, missing several no-brainers that I'd have if I had voted from home, including my forgetting to include Gotham Central in the Best Ongoing Title category!!!! Me am idiot! Grrrr...

My mini-series votes were a bit off, too, leaving out Adam Strange and Nat Turner, though I'm pretty sure I didn't include the latter because of the apparently imagined rule that at least 2-3 issues had to have been released in 2005. (I might have mixed it up with my own rule for Buzzscope's Best of 2005 list.)