It’s time for the 6th Annual Wayne’s Choice Awards!  This is my annual listing of the BEST of well… EVERYTHING from the past year.  In the past this list has been shared on my podcast, and this year it’s going on the blog first…  So let’s get started with the 1st category.  (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)

COMIC BOOK HEROES, VILLIANS, & STORIES:

BEST NEW HERO OR TEAM of 2011: FUTURE FOUNDATION

This team was formed after the death of the Human Torch.   By Johnny Storm’s posthumous request that if anything should happen to him that he would want Spider-Man to be a part of the Fantastic Four, Sue, Reed, and Ben invited him to join the team.

But not as the Fantastic Four, since there truly is NO Fantastic Four without the Human Torch, they became the Future Foundation.  And Spidey wasn’t their only new member either, the were also joined by Dragon Man, Korr, Leech, Artie Maddicks, Mik, Franklin & Valeria Richards (Reed & Sue’s kids), Nathaniel Richards (Reed’s Dad), Alex Power (from Power Pack), a bunch of other brainiac kids, AND… DOCTOR DOOM! yup, Doctor Doom!  Great stuff here!

BEST NEW VILLAIN OR TEAM of 2011: THE COURT of OWLS (Batman)

It’s early in the new run of the Batman reboot, but The Court of Owls is blowing me away as a new villain for Batman.  They are a secret society or club or organization, (not sure right now) and they have controlled Gotham for a long long time.  It even seems like they’ve been an enemy of the Wayne’s for a while too.  They even have secret lairs all over Gotham IN WAYNE BUILDINGS!  I’m loving this story so far and I think it can have staying power in this new Batman universe.

 BEST NEW COMIC of 2011: DEMON KNIGHTS

This comic is just fun to read.  I have a gaming background.  I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons and other paper RPGs in Junior High and High School.  This comic reads like a D&D adventure.  Come on, the characters start their adventure off by meeting in a tavern…  That’s how EVERY D&D adventure starts!

This is just pure fun, check it out.

BEST LIMITED SERIES of 2011: FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN & The CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN

This mini took place during the Flashpoint alternate universe event, but I don’t care where it took place.  Here’s the basic premise:

Frankenstein, a werewolf, a vampire, a sea monster, and yes the Bride of Frankenstein battle the bad guys!  In the first issue they take on the Nazis.  I was sold!  This story has corruption, swerves, intrigue, and ROBOTS!  They even brought these guys back for the DC Reboot in Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. (which is my #2 favorite new book of 2011 BTW)

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR ONESHOT of 2011: (usually under 80 pages) SUPERMAN #712 (Krypto stand alone issue)

I love Krypto!  I’m a big Superman fan and I’m a dog person, so if you put them together you get my love for Krypto.  This issue of Superman was a great send off for the pre-reboot DC Universe version of Krypto.

This issue is a “lost tale” dealing with the after effects of Infinite Crisis.  Superboy is dead, Superman is missing and Krypto is left to live with the Kents in Smallville.  It’s a great story about the love and companionship Krypto brings to the Superman of the DCU.

BEST CLIFFHANGER OR MOMENT of 2011: JOHNNY STORM’s “FINAL” FLAME ON!

BEST ONGOING DC COMIC of 2011: ACTION COMICS

BEST ONGOING MARVEL COMIC of 2011: FF

BEST ONGOING INDEPENDENT COMIC of 2011: USAGI YOJIMBO

BEHIND THE SCENES AWARDS:

BEST WRITER of 2011: JONATHAN HICKMAN (Fantastic Four/FF)

BEST ARTIST of 2011: JIM LEE (Justice League)

BEST WRITER/ARTIST of 2011 (individual that does both): STAN SAKAI (Usagi Yojimbo)

BEST INKER JOE RIVERA (Daredevil)

BEST COLOR ARTIST JAVIER RODRIGUEZ & MUNSTA VICENTE (Daredevil)

BEST LETTERER CARLOS MANGUAL (DC, Various)

BEST EDITOR TOM BREVOORT & LAUREN SANKOVITCH (The FF Editorial Team)

BEST COVER ARTIST JG JONES (Frankenstein Agent of  S.H.A.D.E.)

COMICS ON SCREEN:

BEST COMIC MOVIE of 2011: CAPTAIN AMERICA: The First Avenger

BEST COMIC TV SHOW of 2011: THE WALKING DEAD

MISC:

MOST IMPORTANT COMIC NEWS OF 2011: Day and Date Digital by DC Comics with others following.

MOST ANTICIPATED FOR 2012: THE AVENGERS MOVIE

Space shuttle Atlantis woke up to “More” by @Matthew_West this am! STS-135 Flight Day 5 Crew Wake Up Call: http://t.co/NzYYicV (via @NASA) It was a special song played for Mission Specialist Rex Walheim.

Here is the full song with lyrics… I can just imagine hearing this while looking out the window floating in space. WOW.

Leave it to Google…

Thanks to the crew at 8-Bit for bring this to my attention.

Billy Mitchell is the best at Donkey Kong again.

Mitchell reclaimed the throne at the International Video Game Hall of FameVideo Game Hall of Fame’s inaugural event. He deposed the then-champion Hank Chien by 1,100 points. Mitchell racked up 1,062,800 in his quest for the throne.

Mitchell was part of the documentary “The King of Kong” that chronicles his feud with fellow “Kong” player Steve WiebeSteve Wiebe. (If you’ve not seen the film, it’s one to add to your Netflix queue immediately!)

Read the rest of the story at Slice of Sci-Fi

The King of Kong is one of my favorite documentaries of all time!  Definite worth a rental by anybody whether you’re a video game fan or not.

Here’s a blog post from Jeff Henderson at Buckhead Church that I really enjoyed.  Check it out at: blog.buckheadchurch.org

No.  Not U-R.

Usually, it’s F-U-N.

Granted, chfunch isn’t a word, but fun is often a forgotten dynamic in creating a worship experience.  Typically, most churches aim for reverence.

I’m all for reverence, but fun is much more disarming.  If you create a fun experience up front in the service, the crowd will be much more engaged throughout their time with you.

An example of this is the following video we played at Buckhead Church from Tripp and Tyler near the beginning of Sunday’s service.  There really wasn’t a point, other than just having fun.

Many people push back on the idea of fun in church, and instead argue for reverence.  My experience is that fun leads to engagement, which ultimately leads to an opportunity for greater reverence at the end of a service.

We’ll discuss and show this in greater detail at next week’s Drive Conference. http://www.driveconference.com/ In the meantime, have some fun.  It might be just the thing that’s missing in your ch__ch.

Jeff Henderson

Tripp & Tyler from buckheadchurch on Vimeo.

I’ve been a fan of Lost since the very beginning. Back when I thought the smoke monster was a dinosaur and I thought the island was actually a “Purgatory” type place.

Most endings of Lost cause me to shake my head and wonder what in the world is going on, but I always come back for more.

The latest episode, “Everybody Loves Hugo” was awesome but what got me the most was the promo afterward. They played the creepiest promo ever featuring that disturbing Willy Wonka scene in the tunnel.

Check it out:

If you want to see the original Willy Wonka scene, it’s below along with the lyrics.

Willy Wonka [singsongy]:

There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There’s no knowing where we’re rowing
Or which way the river’s flowing
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?

[apprehensive, now spoken]

Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes! The danger must be growing!

[yelling]

For the rowers keep on rowing
And they’re certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing!

[screams]

I love Lost! I’m glad to see it end though, I don’t think my brain can take much more. Oh, and this summer Tina and I will be watching the whole series from the start again!

Thanks to Sci-Fi Wire for the links to the videos and lyrics!

I would love one of these, but I know I would just end up causing a plane crash everytime I hit snooze.