Binnies 2010: Biggest Surprise or Best Single Moment

Spotlight
Binnies 2010: Biggest Surprise or Best Single Moment
By Zak Edwards
Dec 31, 2010 - 14:51

Hello and welcome to the first annual Binnie awards, where our opinionated and talented writers give their selections for the best comic books of 2010, just in time to look forward to the new year. Just a reminder on the format, we each made a selection and, rather than making an ultimate winner out of these selections, we spread the love and let them all win.
Sometimes things happen in those comics we're reading which drop our jaws, that we either didn't see coming or we thought were just great moments in storytelling. Here's our picks for the Best Moment or Biggest Surprise in 2010:

Zak Edwards: Gus Meeting Future Gus in Sweet Tooth

Okay, so Sweet Tooth has this habit of having these strange preview moments at the end of story arcs which are filled with images taken completely out of context for hints at future developments. By far the craziest was the picture of protagonist Gus as an adult. Complete with bow and Jepperd's trademark scowl, the loss of Gus's innocence and forced growing up was something my jaw dropped at. And when the scene actually happened, in one of Lemire's amazing dream sequences, future Gus saying just "Not yet" was so effective while using the series' minimalism to continued excellence. Every time people ask me about this series, I want to show them that scene, but it would obviously be lost on them.

Andy Frisk: The Return of Bruce Wayne

The whole “Death of Batman” deal was simply lame. Why do the Big Two even bother “killing” characters? They always return. Better to revamp Bruce and his supporting cast than just kill him and bring him back. Batman is Bruce Wayne, as Stan the Man said “nuff said.”

Herve St. Louis: The Success of the Comic Book Bin App

I’ll be biased here and I don’t care. The fact that The Comic Book Bin came out with three smartphone apps in 2010, including several updates and features that go beyond our core competency and actually help the comic book industry is a freaking big deal. Many other media sites that cover comic books have completely decided to not discuss this. As if ignoring it as much as possible could make people stay away from something that’s actually useful. The fact that The ComicBookBin supports three mobile platforms and has a mobile site that anyone on a phone with a Web browser can access is a freaking big deal. The good thing is that those people who have tried our apps understand exactly what they were offered and how it benefits their lives as comic book collectors. We support comic book readers, comic book stores, comic book conventions and of course comic book publishers and creators – free of charge. It’s a freaking big deal.

Leroy Douresseaux: Chloë Moretz in Kick Ass

A star is born!

Pat Oliver: The End of Forever Odd

The end of ‘Forever Odd’, by Dean Koontz, just blew my mind. Odd has had to raise his game considerably in this book, as he deals with a quite insane occultist and the things that happens when, well, I’m not going to spoil it. If you haven’t read any of the Odd Thomas books, I’d recommend that you start from the beginning now.

Phil Schweier: Warlord #12

Creator Mike Grell actually KILLED his main character. He’s said he’s had an idea for the last Warlord story for years, but I never expected him to actually be allowed to tell it.

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