There's a topic on the DC Message Boards that asked the following:

I'm not sure if there is already a thread on this somewhere (apologies if there is) but I'm curious to see what everyone's top five books (series, minis, > specials) were for this year.

So, here was my reply:

1. IDW's Fallen Angel
2. Manhunter
3. Justice
4. Birds of Prey
5. Seven Soldiers (in its entirety)

Runners-up (basically in order): Villains United/Secret Six, Day of Vengeance/Shadowpact, Mystery in Space, Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman (pre-Sword of Atlantis), Martian Manhunter, All-New Atom, Hawkman, Justice League of America

I had to share this:

http://www.paperghost.com/2006/12/questions_dan_d.html

I read this woman's entire blog earlier on Thanksgiving night & I'm thankful for it. Check it out: http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/

I just updated my subscription list & I'm sad to say (because of my wallet) that it's pretty large again. Here's the titles I plan to buy in either November & December or both.

DC
All-New Atom-loving it

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis-#46 either better really tell Orin's story or have Tempest or I'm dropping this

Birds of Prey-I don't like Misfit at all or see the need for a new Judomaster when there was already Gypsy & Flamebird to fill these spots. But, I love Manhunter & Big Barda. I'm kinda torn but I'll keep reading because I love Gail's work

Blue Beetle-love the story & the respect they show for what came before but hate the art

Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood-loved everything about the 1st issue. This is better than the regular Green Arrow series right now, IMO

Firestorm: Nuclear Man-hated the art in #31, but am enjoying the story right now too. I love Friehawk & wished Pozhar would've been Ronnie. But, still a little bitter about Ronnie Raymond's demise. I'm all for diversity in comics but not at the expense of my favorite characters. For example, here's some black heroes I like/could like that have either been killed off in recent years or are totally unused: Amazing Man II, Bloodwynd, Orpheus & Technocrat.

Green Lantern-very interesting story right now so I'm kind of overlooking the glossing over of the Parallax event in the last story for now

Green Lantern Corps-I love this book. Soranik Natu is one of my faves as well as Guy Gardner & Salakk

Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage-I can't wait for this. I've always really liked Guy.

Hawkgirl-The art & story were pretty much horrible for the 1st 7 issues, but now with #57 I'm able to read & buy this book.

Ion-still loving it

JSA Classified-just started buying it again w/ #19 (haven't read it yet though, but the solicit looked good), before that was #10

Justice-loving it, but still don't understand the exclusion of Firestorm at all especially since Metamorpho, Captain Marvel & Plastic Man are shown

Justice League of America-enjoying it, though the "Big 3" took a LONG time just looking at photos

Justice Society of America-hasn't come out yet, but really it's a big team w/ a bunch of members from the looks of it. I'll buy the 1st issue & see what I think but I'm also still bitter about Hector & Lyta Hall's demise. It was wrong & the Hector Dr. Fate was my favorite & what's going to be done with Dr.Fate is just ridiculous. And why is it so much to ask that some comic couples be happy heroes nowadays? There doesn't need to be just doom & gloom all the time.

Manhunter-love this book

Martian Manhunter-loving it

Mystery in Space-loving it

Outsiders-I recently bought & read the issues I was missing (#37-41) & decided I'll buy at least till the end of the upcoming arc that will explain what happened during the missing year. I have to say though that I have no problem with the Thunder/Grace relationship but I loathe Katana's new look. Why did she have to change? She looked perfect. And I hope that Supergirl is not really joining the team. I know I hated at least the 1st 8 issues of her book. Why can't Halo come back instead?

Secret Six-love this

Shadowpact-loving this

Tales of the Unexpected-very very interesting

Teen Titans-yay, Raven's back. I'm not really sure what I think of Jericho's return yet though or the upcoming Titans East story seeing as how the totally changed OYL Batgirl will be there. I loved her series but they killed her in Robin OYL in my opinion.

Trials of Shazam-so far, so good

Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters-Wow! I'm loving it. But where is Ray Terrill? He was an excellent character.

Wonder Woman-wow

IDW Publishing
Fallen Angel-#10 really almost made me cry. If a comic book does that, then it's definitely good.

Other books I will check out & see if the're worth purchasing are the individual upcoming issues of 52 as well as Action Comics, Batman, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Flash: Fastest Man Alive, Green Arrow, JLA Classified (the current story, "Sacred Trust" is semi-interesting) & Nightwing (now that Wolfman's writing it).

I just read & bought both Trials of Shazam #1 & Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters #2. Wow, these 2 titles have definitely been added to my pull list now. I'll share details later. I just finished doing so on the DC Comics Message Boards.

Can somebody let me know when the Justice League Heroes game comes out for Playstation 2? It looks like it'll really kick ass.

I have decided these are the comic book titles I know I will buy in September:

The All-New Atom-I love Gail Simone's writing. This book is no exception. One thing tht's great is that DC didn't feel the need to kill off Ray Palmer in order to introduce Ryan Choi.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis-I am giving Kurt Busiek one or 2 more issues to make me decide to continue buying this. It's riding the fence. I want to know what turned Orin into the Dweller & where is Tempest?

Birds of Prey-I have been loving this book. I mean Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk & Gypsy are not even in my top 10 favorite DC females, but Gail Simone makes me want to keep on reading about them. I just wish the group would stay like this a little longer & that Canary wouldn't be joining the Justice League. I'm not sure what I'll think of this title post-#100

Green Lantern-I am almost on the fence with this one with the appearance of former Green Lanterns believed to have been killed off when Hal went on his rampage which led to his Parallax transformation.I mean they even brought back Arisia too. I don't know. I think Dan Didio's a hypocrite with his talk about "dead is dead" & then allowing all this to happen in G.L. which exonerates Hal of any wrongdoing in the first place. Depending on how #13 ends, it might be my last issue & I might switch this for Green Lantern Corps instead.

Ion-I know the story's going a little slow, but I really feel like it's building to something & I'm glad that the psycho Kyle was really Alex Nero. It's good to see possibly the best villain to come out of Kyle's Green Lantern run is back again. And I like the art in this series as well as the stuff with Kyle on Mogo & also joining up with Hal & not having a conflict.

Justice-The only thing I don't like about this series is Paul Dini's & Alex Ross' insistence on excluding Firestorm, who was my favorite Justice Leaguer. Alex Ross is one of the best artists around though & Paul Dini definitely knows how to let a great story unfold.

Justice League of America-So far, this is actually interesting. We have a new villain. We have some interesting developments with the almost forgotten character of Red Tornado & there is some diversity in the roster. I'd trade Arsenal, Black Canary & Hawkgirl for pre-52 Booster Gold, Zatanna & the now-deceased Hawkwoman Shayera Thal as we saw her in Hawkman #15-17. But, I'm going to give this book a try for a few issues & then make my decision.

Martian Manhunter-I love J'onn's new look. He's had the half-naked suspenders look for so long. I always thought he looked cooler in his natural form too than his more stream-lined, human-like form. I just hope he does not become a villain.

Mystery in Space-Wow, this looks great! The art is outstanding. And it's about Captain Comet. I'm always a sucker for the lesser-known, under-appreciated characters & I liked this guy in Rann/Thanagar War & Adam Strange.

Secret Six-As I've already said, Gail Simone is brilliant & this book also has great art. I really don't know what to expect from this title from one issue to the next too. But I like how the team has evolved. You can tell there was a natural progression from their appearances in Infinite Crisis to One Year Later.
Shadowpact-Since we no longer have the Superbuddies & half the former JLI killed off, this is the next best thing with the humor of the book. I really enjoyed this team's adventures in Day of Vengeance as well. I do think that Enchantress needs the witch hat back though.

Teen Titans-I don't particularly care for the current roster as Beast Boy, Raven & Starfire were my favorites when this series first started & now none of them are members, though it seems Raven will be coming back. That's what I'm looking forward to & also seeing former Titans like Red Star & the mysterious Miss Martian & Zatara.

Wonder Woman-This is an excellent read. I love how Diana's enemies have been revamped & actually seem like a threat. And the Dodson team kicks out amazing art.

IDW's Fallen Angel-When I read an issue of this book I can relate so well to the character, it's scary. I really would love to have a sitdown chat with Peter David. I can imagine he's probably had similar life experiences as I have with God & Christians/Christianity in general. And the art just blows me away. It really sets the tone of the whole book.


I regret dropping Detective Comics, Green Lantern Corps & Superman, but I have to drop some books because of my budget for now & these just didn't make the cut.
I don't regret dropping 52 or Supergirl at all however. There were a few others that I was on the fence about that I was collecting that include Blue Beetle, Catwoman, Firestorm: Nuclear Man & Flash: Fastest Man Alive that I also have nominal interest in, but they didn't win out.

Other books I will pick up in the coming months include Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood, Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage, Omega Men, Tales of the Unexpected, the Raven mini & Manhunter when it picks up again as that book has been one of my top 3 for a while.I'm kind of iffy on the upcoming Justice Society of America or the Terra miniseries.

I am a fan and collector of DC Comics, but I have to say that with Dan Didio at the helm, there've been plenty of changes that just made me go "wha-?" For example, he has said that "funny doesn't sell" & yet apparently, Formerly Known as the Justice League, being the number-one selling book for a good portion of its tenure, doesn't count as selling for him. And with the high demand & even the year-long (?) delay for the solicited sequel, "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" printed in JLA Classified #4-9, there were sales just as high. Didio leaves me very confused with his thinking. He obviously has his own agenda just to make all the titles more serious as he likes & it's not really about the fans. There's more I'll say about this in later blogs.